Quotessence
Home / Books / Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art

Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art

Book by Madeleine L'Engle · 15 quotes · Art, Ifs, Artist

Filter quotes by topic

AllArtIfsArtistFaithPeopleWayCreatorGivingBelieveChildrenChristCreativityFeelsKnowsMayPaintingSecularSufferingThinkingWalking On Water

Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art Quotes

“The figure in the icon is not meant to represent literally what Peter or John or any of the apostles looked like, or what Mary looked like, nor the child, Jesus. But, the orthodox painter feels, Jesus of Nazareth did not walk around Galilee faceless. The icon of Jesus may not look like the man Jesus two thousand years ago, but it represents some *quality* of Jesus, or his mother, or his followers, and so becomes an open window through which we can be given a new glimpse of the love of God.”

LoveArtJesusPaintingApostlesIconsIconography
Book:Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art
Create image

“The artist is a servant who is willing to be a birthgiver. In a very real sense the artist (male or female) should be like Mary who, when the angel told her that she was to bear the Messiah, was obedient to the command. ...I believe that each work of art, whether it is a work of great genius, or something very small, comes to the artist and says, "Here I am. Enflesh me. Give birth to me." And the artist either says, "My soul doth magnify the Lord," and willingly becomes the bearer of the work, or refuses; but the obedient response is not necessarily a conscious one, and not everyone has the humble, courageous obedience of Mary. As for Mary, she was little more than a child when the angel came to her; she had not lost her child's creative acceptance of the realities moving on the other side of the everyday world. We lose our ability to see angels as we grow older, and that is a tragic loss.”

WritingArtCreativityObedience
Book:Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art
Create image

“Obedience is an unpopular word nowadays, but the artist must be obedient to the work, whether it be a symphony, a painting, or a story for a small child. I believe that each work of art, whether it is a work of great genius or something very small, comes to the artist and says, "Here I am, Enflesh me. Give birth to me." And the artist either says, "My soul doth magnify the Lord," and willingly becomes the bearer of the work, or refuses; but the obedient response is not necessarily a conscious one, and not everyone has the humble, courageous obedience of Mary.”

ArtInspirationChristianityLordArt QuoteArtists Heart
Book:Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art
Create image

“A life lived in chaos is an impossibility for the artist. No matter how unstructured may seem the painter's garret in Paris or the poet's pad in Greenwich Village, the artist must have some kind of order or he will proudce a very small body of work. To create a work of art, great or small, is work, hard work, and work requires discipline and order.”

KindMayArtMatterHardBodySeemsArtistOrderPoetHard WorkDisciplineChaosPainterParisWorks Of ArtVillageImpossibilityPadsGreenwichGreenwich Village
Book:Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art
Create image

“As I listen to the silence, I learn that my feelings about art and my feelings about the Creator of the Universe are inseparable. To try to talk about art and about Christianity is for me one and the same thing, and it means attempting to share the meaning of my life, what gives it, for me, its tragedy and its glory.”

GivingTryingMeanArtFeelingsUniverseSilenceChristianityShareGloryTragedyCreatorAttemptingInseparable
Book:Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art
Create image

“When we look at a painting, or hear a symphony, or read a book, and feel more Named, then, for us, that work is a work of Christian art. But to look at a work of art and then to make a judgment as to whether or not it is art, and whether or not it is Christian, is presumptuous. It is something we cannot know in any conclusive way. We can know only if it speaks within our own hearts, and leads us to living more deeply with Christ in God.”

IfsKnowsWayFeelsLooksHeartArtBookChristianSpeakChristPaintingJudgmentWorks Of ArtSymphonyPresumptuousLiving MoreChristian Art
Book:Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art
Create image