Monthly Archives: November 2012

Nov 30 2012

Asha Lightbearer: Open to Imagination

Asha Lightbearer picAsha Lightbearer has been writing and performing music since the age of six. The question she is asked most often is, “From what tribe are you?” The answer is, “None, officially,” although she does participate in activities with Thunderbird Nation, a mixed group of Native American and non-native people who believe in ceremony and the sacredness of the ancestors, the earth and the Great Spirit.

 “The creative process is about being open to possibility and imagination. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Throw the colors on the wall, throw the music on the wall, throw the words on the wall — then see how it comes out. If you’re worrying about playing it safe and worried about doing it right, you’ll never get to your most creative genius.”  ~Asha Lightbearer

Listen to Asha’s Art as Worship interview on Empower Radio.

Asha considers herself Contemporary Christian, but includes mixed esoteric practices in her Spirituality — seeing all as congruent, valuable and life-giving. She graduated from Capital University with a degree in Jazz Studies.

She says regarding the evolution of her music, “I used to only write to get the pain out of my body — that was the one way that I could express. Artists have this fascination with the macabre and believe pain ignites their creative spark. One day I thought ‘Wait a minute — that’s messed up. Wouldn’t I be even that much more of an artist if I could be creative and write a happy song? I can’t believe that I can only be creative when I’m in the dark depths.’ From that point, I started writing positive music. I will touch the wounded spot, but then I show a different way of looking at it. It has served me to step out of those dark spots.”

Asha has performed in New Hampshire, New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Ohio and Florida and is rapidly expanding her reach through both live and recorded performances. A single from her debut album, Move Ahead, was awarded an Honorable Mention in the Uniting category at the 8th Annual Empower Posi-Music Awards. Asha album cover

In addition to performing, she is a certified Alchemical Hypnotist and believes strongly in working with others, teaching them tools to make their lives more peaceful, happy and fulfilling and helping them to remember the beauty of who they really are. Check her website for classes and workshops including a 12-week teleclass series called “Let’s Flow! Expanding Possibility: 10 Tools for Abundant Living.”

Asha says, “I can create anything I want and so I’m building the life I love. It’s going to look like whatever I want it to look like. That’s my Divine purpose as long as it serves others.”

She has one son and is committed to family life and teaching him the values of honesty, integrity and fun! Asha believes that now is the time that we are called to lay down our differences — across religious boundaries — and “Love one another.” Find out more about Asha at www.ashalightbearer.com and check out her debut album, Move Ahead.

Find out more about show host Vanessa Lowry at www.vanessalowrycreative.com.

Nov 23 2012

Jennifer Bull: Music Pushes Me

Jennifer Bull is a violinist, teacher and author. She was born in Mt. Vernon, Ohio and grew up in Charlottesville, Virginia. Raised by parents who believed in encouraging their children to follow their dreams, Jennifer received a bachelor of violin performance from Furman University and also worked as a sous chef in a French restaurant.

“Music is the gift from God that pushes me the most. You can’t be perfect on the violin —that’s probably why God gave me this gift. There are so many sounds and so many things that can go wrong. Through the violin, I’m learning to have faith and let things go that are out of my power.” ~Jennifer Bull

Listen to Jennifer’s Art as Worship interview on Empower Radio.

Publishing under the name J.W. Bull, Jennifer is the author of Pickin’ Tomatoes and the fiction winner of The Shirley You Jest! Book Awards / Shirley LOL.

She says, “In writing, I’m at my best when I just wing it. If I write an outline, it’s horrible. If I stay in the moment as I write, I get into the scene that I see in my head.”

Jennifer lives in Atlanta, Georgia with her husband and two sons. When she’s not teaching violin, playing in The Georgia Symphony, or cooking she is working on her next book, Musical Chairs. Find out more about Jennifer and her writing at www.PickinTomatoes.com.

Find out more about show host Vanessa Lowry at www.vanessalowrycreative.com.

Nov 15 2012

Virginia DuPre: Keeping Open to the Unknown

Virginia DuPre is an artist, art therapist and a former ordained minister.

She graduated from Candler School of Theology in 1994. While serving as an ordained minister, Virginia was a client of art therapy as a way of tending to her own needs and issues so that she could better help others. In 2000, she completed a Master Degree in Art Therapy from Vermont College at Norwich University and began helping people to heal, grow and expand spiritually through the use of art making.

“Making art has kept me open to the unknown — being willing to continue to grow and expand. Art holds mystery and that’s a big part of the spiritual experience. As long as I’m alive, I want to keep expanding into that. There’s something about the blank page and listening to the materials, not knowing what will come out of that process, that’s a way of practicing being open to the great mystery moving inside.” ~Virginia DuPre

Listen to Virginia’s Art as Worship interview on Empower Radio.

Virginia works with adult individuals, couples and groups for art therapy and spiritual formation.  She says, “What I love about art therapy is that an image comes out of the person and is the source for healing and growth. The art, in a very concrete way, points people back to their own knowing.”

She makes personal art with found objects and recycled objects. Currently Virginia is making snake bone pendant necklaces — made from bones of snakes that were killed in farm management practices on a farm in South Georgia.

Virginia encourages others to connect to their creativity. She says, “Set aside time to play and listen to what wants to come up.”

Find out more about Virginia and her art therapy practice at www.virginiadupre.com.

Find out more about show host Vanessa Lowry at www.vanessalowrycreative.com.

Nov 10 2012

Harry Boone: First Center Yourself

Harry Boone is a pottery artist. A native of Georgia, Harry grew up in the Atlanta area, attended Georgia Tech and served in the Navy. He worked in the building and development industry for 38 years.

Watching a potter work at his wheel while attending a North GA fall festival around 1968 sparked Harry’s fascination with wheel pottery. He started collecting pots that day. In 1985, he took a class and centered his first piece of clay.

“Early in my journey as an artist, I was working full-time in the development and building industry. I came into pottery class ten minutes late and strung tight. I wasn’t able to center the clay on the wheel — a crucial step before you can begin forming a pottery piece. My instructor came up behind me, put her hands on my shoulders and said, ‘Harry, you can’t center the clay until you’re centered within yourself.’ I’ve found that principle of first getting centered relates to everything I do.”

Listen to Harry’s Art as Worship interview on Empower Radio.

Now, Harry spends several days a week either in class or working independently in the studio. He’s particularly interested in firing stoneware pieces in wood, salt and ruku kilns.

He says, “I think the best piece I’ve ever made came out of the kiln a few weeks ago — it’s a little teapot and it is absolutely beautiful. That doesn’t happen every time. Creating with clay is somewhat of a process and it’s filled with a lot of faith.”

Harry can be reached at haboone (@) bellsouth.net.

Find out more about show host Vanessa Lowry at www.vanessalowrycreative.com.

Nov 1 2012

Laura Strickler: Choosing at the Buffet of Spirituality

About 10 years ago, Laura Strickler bought a few beads and a little bit of bead wire, hoping to replicate a key chain she admired at a craft fair. She quickly learned that you only need to know how to do a couple of things — crimping and wire wrapping, to be exact — to make just about anything you want with beads. The very short learning curve, the dazzling assortment of beads out there in the world and the utilitarian nature of the final product kept her going.

Finding an intersection where beading and spirituality meet has been the most gratifying part of Laura’s hobby.

“I think of spirituality as a buffet. When you’re at the buffet, you get to pick and choose. You might like something about one spiritual tradition, and something else about another one. I believe that we all have the creative prerogative to connect with our Higher Power in a way that personally works for us.” ~Laura Strickler

Listen to Laura’s Art as Worship interview on Empower.

She says, “The most exciting thing for me about this art of beading was discovering the spiritual aspect that I could bring to it. The word ‘bead’ comes from the Old English noun ‘bede,’ which means a prayer. Just a bead itself is a prayer. It’s just the perfect tangible anchor for any spiritual practice.”

There is a prayer bead configuration for almost every religion and spiritual tradition. Laura’s signature prayer beads include traditional Catholic rosaries and chaplets, Hindu and Buddhist Malas, Christian prayer beads, and a variety of non-denominational prayer and meditation beads.

Laura goes on to say, “Prayer beads are a wonderful way to pause. To be reminded to stop, take a breath and to get centered.”

Laura lives in Atlanta and indulges her creative passions as an antidote to her “real” job in corporate communications at The Coca-Cola Company. Laura has owned her own business, Design & Copy, Inc., for 16 years, providing writing, editing and marketing communications services to a broad range of clients. You can contact her by email at lstrickler (@) mac.com.

Since this interview originally aired, Laura left her job at Coca-Cola and started Pink Elephant Merchantile offering a line of elegant, versatile necklaces.

Find out more about show host Vanessa Lowry at www.vanessalowrycreative.com.