Tag: Creative Life

Creative LIFE, October 2018

Creative Life with Musician Will Wesley

baton_admin

creative life, Will Wesley, Musician

22The Yesterdays hosting a songwriters event a Jolie Pearl in downtown Baton Rouge
Will Wesley

Q: How did you first discover your musical talent?

A: I first discovered my musical talent at the age of eleven. My father was a guitarist, and when he would go to bed, I would sneak his guitar out and play. One night he heard me playing along with the radio and he was amazed at how quickly I could play by ear. He believed that God had blessed me with a gift. From that moment on, I began to pursue music more seriously.

Q: How have you grown as an artist?

A: I play a wide variety of music but that is nothing new. I find it very fulfilling to explore many different styles of music. Currently, I am working on two albums and each has a very different sound. One of my current albums, Reinvention, is a rock and roll based album. My second album in the works, titled Meridian, has a more country/Americana spin to it. It also features my fiancé, Jenna D’Shay as vocalist. We perform as a duo called “The Yesterdays.”

In addition, I consider myself extremely blessed to back Grammy award-winning blues artist Grady Champion. I am making my second tour to Europe with him. In terms of a personal highlight, the music video for my latest single, “The Break” from the Reinvention album actually won the Lakeview International Film Festival Award. In 2014 and 2016, I was a finalist in The International Blues Challenge, so there is never a dull moment in this industry. These highlights just make me want to continue writing songs, playing music and pursuing my gift.

Q: Artistic talent is a gift from God. Talk about your faith and if you ever felt directed by God.

A: My faith in God has carried me through the most challenging times of my life. I grew up very poor, but God was my constant. He made me feel rich because I knew I could always turn to him and look ahead rather than dwell on my immediate circumstance. He provides hope to me. Though the road is often rocky, our relationship is always growing. It may seem strange to some, but when I write songs, I consider God a cowriter. I feel this way because songwriting or playing music is a universal language. I have always felt the Lord’s presence in my music and I hope when people hear it, they feel a connection as well.

Q: Do you have a favorite song, and if so, why is it your favorite?
I do not particularly have a favorite song. Yet I will tell you that I love many songs that range in style from bluegrass, country, rock and roll, the blues and jazz. If I had to pick one of my own, it would be The Hardest of Hearts. There is a universal message to this song. You will know it when you take time to listen to it, which I hope you will do.

Q: Have you ever had an encounter or experience that you felt was divine intervention?

 

A: This may be hard to believe, but God has always spoken to me in my dreams. He lets me know where I am going and reminds me of where I have been. I believe that each person has their own individual language with God. Because we are individuals, we all have our own personal relationships with our maker. Dreams and songwriting seem to be my common language between the Lord and me.

Q: Do you have a favorite scripture or book of the Bible?

A: I have always liked the Book of Job because it describes in detail the trials and tribulations of a common man. When tempted by the devil, Job never turns his back on the Lord. By holding onto his faith, God gives him double for his trouble. The Book of Genesis is another favorite book in the Bile because though the Fall of Man occurs in this book, there is also a purity revealed in the beginning before temptation crept into the Garden of Eden. One of my favorite scriptures is the one that states “you cannot serve two masters.” Daily we are tested, and daily we have a choice to choose good over evil or obedience over our own desires. Satan loves to tempt us in our minds. Our mind is a battlefield. Yet God is our ever-present help in times of trouble.

Q: What else would you like our readers to know about you?
A: I was raised in a poor, yet very rich family. Though money was often hard to come by, we were rich in our love for each other. When I describe my family, it makes me think of some of the interviews I have heard with Dolly Parton. She talks a lot about growing up a country girl in the Tennessee mountains. In her heart, she was rich. I relate to her humble upbringing.

Anyway, my father was a construction worker and my mother stayed home with us most of my life. As a child, in all honesty, I hated how poor we were, but as a man, it was the lack I experienced during those years that helped me have courage and be tough. Family sticks together no matter what is happening and that is the type of family I am glad to be part of while on this earth. I hope people will know that I do not take anything for granted and I hope that people will discover my music.

To sum up my journey, there is a scripture that says, “I will go before you and make the rough places smooth.” (Isaiah 45:2) Hold on and know who has your back if you believe. It is God. He has kept me going.

Wesley’s “The Break” is available on YouTube under the channel, The Will Wesley Band. There is also a Christian-based music video called “The Hardest of Hearts.” Visit his website at Willwesley.com or view his Facebook page. The duo, The Yesterdays is also on Facebook.

Will’s band gets ready for a performance.
Will Wesley and Jenna D’Shay play at Jolie Pearl downtown.
Will Wesley and Jenna D’Shay perform as ‘The Yesterdays.’

Sharon Furrate Bailey grew up in Alexandria, La., and moved to Baton Rouge to attend LSU. She earned a B.A. in English Literature in 1990. She attends Our Lady of the Lake Mercy Catholic Church. Sharon has been in the field of marketing, sales, and public relations since 1996. She is a gifted artist and has been a columnist since 2005. She can be reached at sharon@brclm.com.

Creative LIFE, September 2018

Creative Life

baton_admin

Creative life, Seek and Ye Shall Find

Gail Barber Lloyd

#Selfie #Bff (Gails daughter and one of her best friends)

Q: Please share your journey as an artist:
A: As a child, I was encouraged in my artistic endeavors. My uncle on my mom’s side was a full-time artist and there were musicians on my dad’s side. I remember as a young girl, my mom speaking positively about one of my drawings to someone. It was through those types of experiences that I gained confidence in my artistic abilities. Throughout my primary education, I enjoyed success in art classes and competitions. In high school, I was involved in advanced placement art class which gave me a good foundation regarding artistic elements like line, value, and color theory. I chose to pursue a degree in “commercial art” as it was called in those days and minored in art history. I never finished college, however, I met my mate during those years, so I did acquire a “Mrs.” We began having children and I enjoyed those years of educating and raising my four kids. During those years, I was blessed to use my gift and passion by teaching art and art history to a group of homeschooled students. When my years of raising children came close to an end, I spent a lot of time conversing with the Lord about what I should do next. What did He have in store for me? I believe art is the gift I was given and that I am to share it and that is what I continue to do each day. My husband is very supportive and encourages this calling in my life.

Q: What are some of your favorite paintings?
A: My Word portraits are my favorite. Years ago I prayed about what kind of artistic present I could give to a dear friend who had been a Titus 2 woman in my life. A Titus 2 woman trains younger women in Biblical, simple-to-measure, Spirit-empowered, love-based living. So I decided to create a portrait made out of descriptive words that personified my friend — her interests, character qualities and her life. Although I have seen words used in art, I had never seen a portrait made up of words that are biographical and meaningful about the person. Word portraits are still my favorite to create because they honor the life of the person depicted and it is not just about their appearance. After I complete these portraits, I stand in awe of our amazing Creator because of each person’s individuality and uniqueness.

Q: Do you believe creativity is a spiritual gift?
A: As a Christian, I believe the indwelling Holy Spirit gives every aspect of my life spiritual significance. As a parent, it is delightful to watch our children enjoy their specific gifts and see them grow. I believe it delights our Heavenly Father when we use those gifts he has given us. Art does draw me closer to Him because it is something He has given me.

Q: What is your favorite book of the Bible or Scripture and why?
A: Psalm 139 has always been one of my favorites. The cry of the human heart is to be loved passionately and unconditionally — for someone to know every part of us, the good, the bad, and the ugly, and love us anyway. To me, Psalm 139 is a declaration. Lord, you know all of me. You formed me in the womb. You know my innermost parts and you see me as valuable and lovable. What is most powerful about this psalm is that he wrote “all the days of my life.” So when life seems a bit confusing or tragic, I find peace that He is not surprised. He is the author of my life. Each stage of life is like turning the page of a book. I can trust Him with the plot, the players and the outcome.

Q: Where can readers find your work?
A: The best place to find me is on my art Facebook page: Gail Lloyd Art . You can see my art at
gaillloydart.com and fineartistgroup.com, which is an organization that connects businesses with artists who create custom art for corporate spaces. Recently, I have been accepted into the Associated Women in the Arts. One of my paintings was featured in August at Elizabethan Gallery.

Q: What else would you like to share about your personal life?
A: In my home, I have a beautiful studio, but the opportunity presented itself to paint around other creative types and to be surrounded by seasoned artists. It has helped me learn and develop as an artist. Every day, I am so thankful to be doing what I love and painting around others who share the same passion.

Louisiana Times
Look What I Found
Gail Lloyd Self Portrait
Artist Gail Lloyd
August 2018, Creative LIFE

Creative Life

baton_admin

Brushstrokes of Love … Thoughtfully Placed

John K. Lee

Q: Describe your journey as an artist.
A. My journey is unique. I was born and raised in Baton Rouge. When I was 20, I moved to New York City where I studied business at NYU and worked as an analyst for an advertising conglomerate. After living in NYC for five years, I moved back home and worked as an accountant for a local nonprofit. I did not stay very long. In 2012, I ventured out to southern California where I studied at Fuller Theological Seminary and obtained my Master of Divinity. I enjoyed the dynamic city of Los Angeles. During my time there, I discovered my love for pop culture and my affinity for the arts. After living in California for five years, my journey led me back to Baton Rouge. Throughout most of my life, I worked in financial and administrative roles. But after discovering more about myself and my artistic gifts, I wanted to be an artist.

In the summer of 2017, I painted to discover who I truly was in the Lord. Throughout my childhood, it was difficult to love myself — the ideas I had about myself were false. Life’s challenges gave me wounds that made it hard for me to see myself as worthy of love. But over time, God revealed to me my true identity in Him. He revealed that I was intimately made, made in love, and made in his image. This is true for all of us. Only humanity was formed in this special way. As Erwin Raphael McManus says in The Artisan Soul, “While all creation declares the image of God, we humans bear the image of God.” Being an artist for me is declaring and living out my true identity as God’s child.

I believe in a sense that each of us are artists. God is the main artist. He is “Creator” and because we were all created in God’s image, we’re all fundamentally creative beings. Most people may think they have no artistic talent, but we all have creative abilities that we use in our daily lives. For example, a chef uses his culinary skills when cooking and creating beauty on a plate.

As an artist, what I care about most is how a person sees himself or herself. My desire is for others to know who they are in God, especially younger people. There are so many false messages in media and throughout our society, and it is important to find a confidence in knowing God’s love.

The medium I enjoy using now is mixed media. I enjoy acrylic paint and spray paint on canvas. Abstract art is something I enjoy doing because it uses the deepest recesses of my imagination. Having lived in some major metropolitan cities combined with my southern Louisiana upbringing, I feel that my southern Louisiana upbringing and the fact that I’ve lived in some major metropolitan cities impacts my art, making it contemporary but also intimate and down-to-earth.

Q: What are some of your favorite paintings and why?
A: One of my favorite paintings is Claude Monet’s Water Lilies. There’s such a peace and purity in Monet’s paintings. Another painting I like is Vincent Van Gogh’s Café Terrace At Night. I love the light in it. As for my own art, well, it remains untitled, but it’s a piece that has actual leaves on it from my parents’ backyard that I spray painted. It makes me think of this verse: 1 Peter 1:24-25: “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.”

My second favorite is called Home. There is great peace in being home after being away for ten years. The white around the image or “blankness” represents starting over and how everything is “blank” in a sense. But even though there’s this blankness, there’s texture in it. The texture represents the experiences I’ve had throughout my journey — smooth terrain and bumps in the road, so to say. They’ve added “texture” or layers to my life. Even though I’m back at square one, those life experiences remain.

Q: Creativity is a spiritual gift. How is painting spiritual to you?
A: Painting is naturally spiritual to me. My parents’ garage is my studio. God is in there and I experience His intimacy while painting. Additionally, I am very passionate about evangelism. The false views and perceptions of God bother me. So many see God as this domineering figure who is judgmental, rigid and mundane. God is quite the opposite, and art gives me a way to draw people close to Him or at least seek the God I have come to know. God is dynamic, diverse, loving, personable, and down-to-earth. God is humorous too. We can see the reality and beauty of God in things like art, food, movies, music, fashion, and sports. This outlet, or rather new beginning, helps me to present God and his attributes.

Q: What is your favorite Scripture and why?
A: One of my favorite scriptures is Psalm 139: 13-15: “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.”
This scripture shows just how special and how thoughtfully God created us.

Q: Where can readers find your work? 
A: In August, some of my art will be displayed in Magpie Café on Perkins Road. I also have a few pieces in Rue Beignet on Highland Road and I hope to display my art in more local businesses. Mid City Rising and Re-stabbed in the Art are local art events where I have showen my work. One can find my art on facebook (facebook.com/artbyjohnklee) and Instagram @artbyjohnklee.

Q: Describe your faith life and the people who have influenced you.
A: I became a Christian when I was a freshman in college. I grew up going to church, but I never had a personal relationship with God. At LSU, a good friend named Phil Koch told me how I could have a personal relationship with Jesus. Before this, I always thought being a Christian was about following rules and trying to be a really moral person. One evening in my dorm room, I prayed and asked Jesus to come into my life. I found true fulfillment in life. Because of my experience, I’m passionate about ministry. If it is the Lord’s will, I want to start a church one day and help others have an intimate relationship with God who does hear us, sees us and loves us.

Aside from art, I work as the Connections Coordinator at The Chapel on the Campus. My role is essentially to help welcome and connect people into our church community. Two of my heroes are my mom and dad. My parents have owned a drycleaning business in Baton Rouge for over 30 years. They are the hardest working people I know and the purest example to me of Christ’s sacrificial love. One of my all-time heroes is Erwin Raphael McManus, pastor of Mosaic Church in Hollywood, California where I attended when I lived there. Erwin is an amazing pastor, but he is also a fashion designer, filmmaker, writer, speaker, and artist. His book The Artisan Soul literally changed my life and influenced my views about art.

My dream is to be an influential artist in the world who uses art as a platform to speak about beauty and the Gospel. When people see my art, I want them to see love.




Sharon Furrate  Bailey grew up in Alexandria, LA and moved to Baton Rouge to attend LSU. She earned a B. A. in English Literature in 1990. She attends Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church. Sharon has been in the field of marketing, sales, and public relations since 1996. She is a gifted artist and has been a columnist since 2005. She can be reached at sharonfur@yahoo.com. 

Creative LIFE, July 2018

Creative Life, Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow

baton_admin

Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow

Kenneth Drake
Musician and Music Minister

Q: When did you first discover your musical talent?
A: Music was always in my home. My mother taught piano and was minister of music at our church into my high school days. Therefore, I was inquisitive and interested in music and piano for as long as I can remember. After I began studying piano around 8 years old I began receiving positive feedback in competitions. My mom, one of my greatest mentors musically and spiritually, “threw me in the fire” at church having me play for assemblies and worship services at a very early age so I learned to sight read well early on. In the eighth grade, she sent me kicking and screaming to a piano audition at Furman University to be accepted into their college prep program. I was accepted and studied piano there throughout high school and attended Furman for college. My mom’s insistence set the course of my life. I received a degree in piano pedagogy with minor studies in church music which then brought me to LSU for a master’s degree in piano performance, accompanying, and doctoral studies in pedagogy.

Q: Describe your experience as music director at Chapel on the Campus and Chapel in the Oaks (alongside your wife Kathy) and a few memorable moments that come to mind.
A: Years of memories are flowing as I ponder this question. Tears are flowing as well as I recall how instrumental Pastor Donald Tabb, the Pastor Emeritus of the Chapel on the Campus, was to myself and Kathy. We were so saddened by his recent passing but so blessed to have ministered with him for almost 20 years. Honestly, I wish Kathy and I had kept a count of how many funerals we played and sang when Donald was officiating. That God would grant us that opportunity … there is no way to put into words all that dear man meant to us, what he invested in us biblically and spiritually, and just living life as a married couple. In 1983, Kathy and I were asked to organize a music ministry, but God had so much more planned. In Donald’s presence, we were like the two men on the road to Emmaus with Jesus. “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?”  Oh, the days of ministering and working with that remarkable man! Praise God we were blessed with that opportunity so many years ago.

Recently, 80-plus choir members gathered to sing at Donald’s memorial service. Even amid our grief, it is a sweet memory due to all the choir members that surfaced over 31 years of ministry to pay their respects. To look out and see so many familiar faces, literally thousands, I was overcome at the lives he touched.

 As for memorable worship services, we orchestrated moving Christmas musicals, cantatas, and pageants that dramatized the full life of Christ. Kathy had a vision of incorporating all aspects of the arts into the church and the purpose was to reclaim the arts for God’s glory. We sought to incorporate this plan all the way down to the “Hallelujah Little Ones” and the preschool choir. For me personally, YMAD, the Youth Music & Drama Group for middle and high school, was a tremendous blessing. This group attracted the unchurched youth because it presented Broadway musicals with a biblical theme. We are still seeing the fruit today from that ministry. What a joy!

Q: What advice would you give to other music directors, and what wisdom did you gain?
A: Seek God in every decision. When it comes to selecting music, it is important to ask how this will help people grow spiritually in worshipping God from a Biblical perspective. People are placed in our path daily, so I would encourage one to be a pastor, not just a music director or worship leader. Kathy and I have been blessed ten-fold by those who we just sat and visited or ministered to in a time of need.

 Q: What are you learning in your role at Community Bible Church?
A: The richest blessing Kathy and I have experienced since joining this church body is that we are part of the body. We are worshippers and not just leading worship. One of the church’s core values is to provide a worship setting for a multigenerational congregation, so we are working on this desire daily. Since I have been there as part of their music ministry, I would have to say this past Christmas was amazing. We presented an inspirational musical/drama and dance including 60-plus voices, representing eight churches. Pastor Steve Foster has been a great mentor and friend and yes, I am now serving 30 hours a week at the church.

 Q: Tell us about your family.
A: Kathy and I will soon be celebrating 39 years of marriage. She has been my wife, partner, best friend, mother, grandmother, teacher of the Word, amazing singer, worshipper, best voice teacher, and interior designer. She is so full of grace and beauty … what more can I say? In our first year of marriage, we took off for Salzburg, Austria to study at the Mozarteum Conservatory. Kathy had received a Rotary Scholarship for post-graduate study there and we thought we would seek musical careers in Europe. Yet we were led in another direction. We joined a little Baptist mission, the only church we could find that offered services in English, and through John Linderman, a young mentor in our lives, we joined a weekly Bible study with a group of internationals. God opened the scriptures and His heart to us in deeper ways than either of us had experienced before.

God has also blessed Kathy and me by giving us two daughters who are both talented, gifted artists. Can you imagine being with four artists in one household? I am outnumbered since I am the only male, but I would not trade it for anything.

Maggie is a visual artist/painter. She teaches art, and at the same time, is a wife and mother to her two daughters. She perseveres with her crazy schedule and is doing well in Greenville, South Carolina with her own paintings and classes. Spencer, her husband, is very supportive. Mary Elizabeth lives in New York, is pursuing a career in musical theatre, and has been cast in two shows and a nationwide tour since moving there in 2015. I am so proud of both daughters and their desire to grow in the Lord is still a very big part of their lives.

I appreciate the readers’ prayers for them as they continue to hone their talents and pursue their careers as Christian artists! They have very different and unique personalities and to watch them operate in their gifts is a joy to see unfold daily. Praise God!

 Q: Do you have a favorite book of the Bible or scripture?

The Psalms are just gorgeous and steeped with what it means to worship in spirit and in truth. In 1985, I had the opportunity to attend a conference, and it was there that I was introduced to the Psalms written by musician/choral writer Don Wyrtzen, whom I greatly admired. God certainly had His hand on Kathy and me and a specific plan and direction for our life! The life verse that I hold closely is Romans 12:1-2 (ESV) and it’s what I seek daily as a husband, father, grandfather, worship pastor, musician, and friend.

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Q:  What else you would like our readers to know about your personal life and journey as a creative person?
I haven’t talked about my piano teaching, but I do love that one-on-one with my students. The ones that impress me are those who do not have the most natural musical instinct or talent but have the drive to learn. Finding students who have the time and/or make the practice time needed to succeed at the piano or any instrument is rare in these challenging days.

Seek ye first His kingdom and His righteous and all shall be added unto you. (Matthew 6: 33)

The Chapel’s production of Les Miserables from 2009 featured a spiritual message
Ken leads Sunday morning worship with the Worship Team and Chorale at Community Bible College
CBC’S 2017 Christmas musical included drama and dance, and represented eight churches
The late Donald Tabb and his wife Mary joined Ken, Kathy and The Chapel Choir at one of the choir’s retreats in the fall of 2013.

Sharon Furrate Bailey grew up in Alexandria, LA., and moved to Baton Rouge to attend LSU. The earned a B.A. in English Literature in 1990. She attends Our Lady of the Lake Mercy Catholic Church. Sharon has been in the field of marketing, sales, and public service since 1996. She is a gifted artist and has been a columnist since 2005. She can be reached at sharon@brlcm.com