The Creative Call: An Artist's Response to the Way of the Spirit (Writers' Palette Book) [Paperback]

Janice Elsheimer (Author)

Book Description

Release date: November 20, 2001 | Series: Writers' Palette Book

Perhaps you're a "closet writer" who's been scribbling in journals for years. Maybe you once had a passion for playing the piano or violin--a passion that is still flickering somewhere deep inside you. You may have a knack for photography, drawing, gardening, cooking, or some other creative gift. Or you may long to express yourself creatively, but have yet to discover your unique talents.

Your creativity was meant be used. Whether you are an artist who has already identified your gifts or you believe that you have artistic talent that has never been developed, working through this book will help you grow closer to becoming the person God has designed you to be.

*LEARN TO CALL ON THE HOLY SPIRIT AS YOUR SOURCE OF INSPIRATION
* EXERCISE YOUR ARTISTIC GIFT REGULARLY AND BEGIN TO
THINK OF YOURSELF AS AN ARTIST.
* DEVELOP THE HABIT OF JOURNALING AS A WAY TO REALIZE UNLOCKED CREATIVITY
AN EIGHT-WEEK PROGRAM FOR FULLY DEVELOPING YOUR ARTISTIC GIFTS
AND ENTERING INTO A CLOSER UNION WITH GOD. INCLUDES A RETREAT GUIDE.
FOR INDIVIDUAL USE OR GROUP STUDY.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Janice Elsheimer's book will be an invaluable aid for artists in all fields, helping the creative person to get closer to the Source of true creativity."
--Bryan Savage, bestselling saxophonist/flutist with albums including "Cat Food," "Soul Temptation," and "Rush Hour"

"Chapter-by-chapter, with thought-provoking words and exercises, Janice lifts the veil that blinds our thoughts towards our gifts. Most of us will be able to see ourselves somewhere within the pages of this book. We will then have the chance to overcome the lies that have kept us from believing that we can enjoy the wonderment of creating with the talent we possess."
--from the foreword by Thomas Blackshear, illustrator, painter, and creator of the limited edition prints, "Forgiven" and "Coat of Many Colors"

"To be an artist, receiving the vision and applying creativity may not be enough. Janice Elsheimer models, and suggests to the reader, many of the practical ways of living the fruitful artist?s life. Packed with lived-out illustrations of what it takes in the way of discipline and daily dedication to respond to God's creative call, this book blesses and illuminates."
--Luci Shaw, poet and author, The Angles of Light, Water My Soul, and Friends for the Journey (with Madeleine L?Engle)

"Following The Creative Call made me realize that my creative spirit was not being given free reign. I'm thankful to Janice for listening to God's creative call in her own life and sharing her vision with us."
--Rev. Sarah H. Gaede, Orlando, Florida

"Human creativity has been like a prodigal longing to return to its father. Janice Elsheimer guides the artist home."
--Erwin Raphael McManus, lead pastor of Mosaic, artist, futurist, and author of An Unstoppable Force

"The Creative Call will reawaken and embolden artists to take responsibility for naming, developing, and expressing their creative gifts. The exercises here have the potential to transform an artist's understanding of who God originally created him or her to be, and to provide courage and discipline to actually produce work! I highly recommend that groups of artists work through this material in the context of community, to encourage and challenge one another."
--Nancy Beach, programming director and teaching pastor at Willow Creek Community Church

From the Inside Flap

Perhaps you're a "closet writer" who's been scribbling in journals for years. Maybe you once had a passion for playing the piano or violin--a passion that is still flickering somewhere deep inside you. You may have a knack for photography, drawing, gardening, cooking, or some other creative gift. Or you may long to express yourself creatively, but have yet to discover your unique talents.

Your creativity was meant be used. Whether you are an artist who has already identified your gifts or you believe that you have artistic talent that has never been developed, working through this book will help you grow closer to becoming the person God has designed you to be.

*LEARN TO CALL ON THE HOLY SPIRIT AS YOUR SOURCE OF INSPIRATION
* EXERCISE YOUR ARTISTIC GIFT REGULARLY AND BEGIN TO
THINK OF YOURSELF AS AN ARTIST.
* DEVELOP THE HABIT OF JOURNALING AS A WAY TO REALIZE UNLOCKED CREATIVITY
AN EIGHT-WEEK PROGRAM FOR FULLY DEVELOPING YOUR ARTISTIC GIFTS
AND ENTERING INTO A CLOSER UNION WITH GOD. INCLUDES A RETREAT GUIDE.
FOR INDIVIDUAL USE OR GROUP STUDY.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Shaw Books (November 20, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0877881383
• ISBN-13: 978-0877881384
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 0.7 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #210,624 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Janice Elsheimer was born on her mother's birthday in Louisville, KY in 1950. In 1965 her family moved to Winter Park, FL, a small city near Orlando she still calls home. When she was 23, she moved with 5 friends to the Ozark Mts. in Northwest Arkansas where she and her first husband built their house by hand and tried to tame twenty-five acres of mountaintop land. The deer won. During those 13 years Janice learned every aspect of house building. She gardened, gave birth to her son James, taught English at Mountainburg High School, earned her MA in gifted education at the University of Arkansas, and kept on writing in her journal.

Her first book, THE CREATIVE CALL, was published by Shaw Books/WaterBrook Press/Random House when she was 51. Now in its 10th printing, it continues to gain followers via word of mouth and hand to hand. THE CREATIVE CALL won an ECPA Silver Medallion as one of five best inspirational Christian nonfiction books of 2001. Writing this book was her personal answer to the creative call. In June 2012 it was published in Korean, the first foreign language translation.

Her second book, WORD WEAVERS, co-authored with Eva Marie Everson, is about how to form and operate a successful writers' critique group. They wrote it to provide a handbook for those attending her workshops as well as for anyone wanting to learn about a highly effective way to give and receive critique within a community of writers. This self-published book is, unfortunately, out of print, but electronic copies can be purchased through her website.

GARDEN GRACES: THE WISDOM IN GROWING THINGS was released by Beacon Hill Press in March 2010. Illustrated by nationally acclaimed botanical artist Redenta Soprano, this beautiful book grew out of the author's many hours spent working, thinking, "breathing in," and gathering wisdom from the practice of growing things. The book can best be described as an exploration of gardening as a metaphor for personal and spiritual growth.

Janice supports her writing habit through her editing and writing coach business, as well as keynoting local and national artist and writers' conferences. Her passions are her family, her friends, writing, gardening, coaching emerging writers, playing piano in her band at Orlando Community Church, playing the hammered dulcimer, and encouraging folks to reconnect with their creativity by seeing the practice of their art as a path to self-actualization. Her greatest loves are her husband, Dr. Seth Elsheimer, her son, James Stevenson Fisher, her daughter-in-law, Cicely Scheiner-Fisher, and the God who so richly blesses her life.

For more information about her books and public appearances, visit her website at http://www.jelsheimer.com

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 45 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Committing Your Work to the LORD March 6, 2002

By Evelyn McCurdy

Format:Paperback

As a painter who had hit a dry spell, this book, The Creative Call, has helped me to rethink the whole process of "art making". I now see each painting as a gift, a "love note" from God. I also see both the process and the finished work as an act of service, a means of worship, once I have committed that work to the LORD (Prov 16:3) and have opened up "to the gentle leading of the Holy Spirit" (p161). More than ever, I see myself as a vessel, an instrument for God to use for His creative expression. And, as the author writes, I too have begun to see my painting as "a pathway to a closer relationship with God, not as a glorification of myself" (p65). Janice's clear and insightful writing thoughtfully guides the artist (and would-be artist) to a new place - a place of pure gratitude and love for God and for the gift which He has given.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow!! June 9, 2006

By Jennifer Donovan

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I'm only half-way into this book, but it's life changing. This book is aimed to help you integrate your art into your Christian life and walk with God (be it writing, cooking, visual arts or performance). She walks you step by step to exercises to help unlock your talent and help you hear from God, including scripture memory and journaling.

This book is aimed at someone who just wants to look deeper at their gift, or someone who has squashed their creative gift, or even someone who is trying to uncover exactly what it is.

Excellent!

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An exhortation of importance May 28, 2004

By Pamela K. Fisher

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

As a journalist and arts critic, I've found it all too easy to lose a sense of the "holy" in writing for newspaper deadlines. Often, I ignore the spiritual stirring to write something personal -- not for print, because it isn't practical or saleable. I had come to see my gift as a commodity.
Somehow as a professional writer, I lost the sense of writing as an act of worship, incarnational and transforming. The Creative Call reminded me that creating is holy business, to and for our Creator -- for the sheer delight of creating. This book encourages accountability and stewardship of our gifts.