Now that's a Sabbath

My first piece of car art is complete -- it came out pretty nice! (and doesn't Dylan do a great Vanna?)

Paul Klee's "Fish Magic" was the obvious inspiration here; we'll keep improvising our way 'round the car until it's all or mostly covered with strange and wonderful stuff: the minivan as a plus-size canvas for self-expression. (True confession however: we're not actually painting the car, but magnetic sheeting that sticks to the car. We bought a 50-foot roll of the stuff on eBay; it weighed about 40 lbs.)

When we first bought the minivan, over a year ago, it was on the condition that we would do this. I thought it might take 3-4 Sunday afternoons; but I spent one Sunday after another holding a baby, sleeping off late nights, browsing the Web, or fixing and cleaning things. Sometimes I'd start to tackle the art car project, but then (daunted) I'd fritter away the time measuring or planning the work (mere engineering) instead of actually creating SOMETHING.

But a couple of weeks ago something clicked; I grabbed a paintbrush, mixed up a goopy orange blend, and quickly covered a couple of panels, knowing they might turn out awful but trying it anyway. Once that dried, another layer of bluish paint went on, and while it was still wet, the real fun began, using a knife, fork, and comb. And viola!

I suppose one reason for the "click" was a recent conversation with some new friends: is Sabbath rest perhaps defined by intentional non-productivity? I'm no artist, so painting is well outside my usual "sector of production." By foregoing any attention to sensible, necessary things for a bit, I found a creative "discovery zone" (as Makoto Fujimura describes Eden) more restful and invigorating than a nap or a mowed lawn; Mako might say it "fed my soul." Not a bad view of the Sabbath... The Westminster Confession limits the Sabbath to "worship and ... duties of mercy or necessity"; to this I would add "or works of beauty." (Of course good Presbyterians would never tamper with, disable, or destroy their Confession like that.:-)