ART MENTORING with Melissa Jacie
Art Mentor & Coach
Melissa Jacie Thomsen is a 32 year old artist and dreamer living in Northeast Ohio. She was homeschooled through highschool and earned an Associates degree through Thomas Edison State College.
With a love for God and His Word, Melissa believes in a Christ-centered orientation when it comes to living as an artist. Being an artist is a unique call and responsibility that the world doesn’t always recognize or understand. It takes faith and intentionality to step aside from “the normal” and become the conduit of beauty, truth and light that God intends for His artists.
Having been mentored long distance by a skilled Christian artist herself, Melissa knows the value of having someone to walk alongside you in the journey of being a creative.
Art mentoring is more than a mentorship. It’s a friendship. Ongoing encouragement. And a way to stir the fire and purpose within.
WHO IS IT FOR?
The Questioners. The Dreamers. The Longing Creatives.
Have you ever felt alone?
Like you were the only artist AND Christian that you knew? What about those times you’ve watched the sunset and wished you could’ve slipped a paintbrush across a piece of paper in an echo of color?
Maybe God has stirred your heart with visions …you see yourself running a nonprofit one day, or designing Bible-based products to send around the world for hurting hearts. You’ve even wept tears in private over how deeply you long to have IMPACT on the world with your creativity.
Perhaps you’re the cautious creative–not even quite brave enough to call yourself “creative” and yet you always feel a pull towards anything artistic. Sometimes you’ve tried, but the voice of perfectionism is like a giant that keeps holding you back from going any further. And yet, you wonder …what if?
Maybe you’re the longing creative …the one who never seems to have enough time or resources to do anything you really want to do. You watch other artists and feel the sadness within that you’re not WITH them, doing beautiful work for such incredible impact.
Ultimately, you’re an artist.
And you’ve come to the right place.
THE 3 FOUNDATIONAL PILLARS OF MENTORSHIP
No one can be the artist they are called to be without first seeking Christ. This is the most foundational move we can make as a student of the arts: deepening our relationship with God.
At the very beginning of existence itself, God created. Notice it didn’t say, “God thought,” or “God looked,” or “God studied,”. No, it was an act of creation that spun the world into life.
This was God’s first recorded move ever to be written.
He is the first Creator to exist and the Creator of the created.
So when we create, we are reflecting the One who made us. We are, in many ways, echoing the first recorded act of God every time we move along the wings of inspiration to breathe life into something new–something unseen, something brought to sight.
In a way, artists walk and live in faith.
The Intentional Living Component
No one can be the artist they are called to be without being thoughtful about their lifestyle.
This is the one of the most foundational moves we can make as a student of the arts: being intentional about how we live.
I wish I had understood and valued this at an earlier age. Being thoughtful about our surroundings and life decisions is SO needed for creative, artist souls.
In a world so focused on “all the things”, it’s easy to let our inner worlds become chaotic and disturbed. Especially so, because as artists we tend to be more sensitive–to sights, sounds and feelings. We walk, as it were, with our microphone signal to the outer world–tuned up to a higher level than others. So it’s no wonder if we feel the noise of the world crowding our senses and drawing us down into a world of confusion and busyness or mental/emotional sadness.
The Skill Growth Component
No one can really be the artist they are called to be without being intentional to value and invest in their skills.
This is the one of the most foundational moves we can make as a student of the arts: being intentional to invest in our skill growth.
It can be easy to assume that growing one’s artistic skills is entirely organic or somehow magically endowed on chosen people who suddenly burst into brilliance.
However, it’s better to think of artistic skill much like how one would learn an instrument. We don’t find ourselves expecting a baby to burst forth into this world with full capabilities in violin playing.
There’s a reason so many music students take lessons and are told to practice. It’s a skill that must be learned.
What is it like?
It depends on the kind of art mentorship! If you’re a serious artist looking for deep one-on-one mentorship, learn more here.
melissajacie@gmail.com
Are you a homeschool Mom?
Maybe you have an artistically gifted child or you’re wondering what to do about art class and feel daunted on where to go next. Here’s a letter for you …