WAKE UP BY MEGHAN WILLIAMS (DYED4YOUART)

 PART 17 OF A 17 PART SERIES ON FAVORITE ART AND ARTISTS

Wake Up by Meghan Williams of Dyed4YouArt

 

My hunch is that if you asked ten Christians what it means for the church to wake up, you might get ten different answers. I wouldn't be shocked if you got twenty.  

While I'd be glad to give my thoughts as to how the church needs to awaken, I'm going to focus on this fine work of art. Of course, there's the lion representing Jesus, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:9-10; Rev. 5:5), speaking to the world, symbolized by a city.

Is this a particular city? My first thought is San Francisco, with the Golden Gate and other bridges. But is my memory correct that New York City also has one? Or is it another city or for that matter a generic city? Either way, the cities I mentioned are not known for listening to the voice of Christ. To me, the city looks unaffected by Christ's roar.

You want to know my thoughts about the church needing to wake up? Ask! I'll be glad to tell you. But what I want to hear is your thoughts about the subject. And does this picture affect you as it does to me?

Also, this is the conclusion of my series on favorite art. You can say I wanted to go out with a bang, or more likely a roar. Starting this blog, let alone the series, is based on a view that God can use the arts for His glory, including drawing the lost to Him and to edify and encourage the Church. In some cases, He can even use art by unbelievers without their knowledge.

P.S. If you'd like to read my interview with Meghan Williams (which also has "Wake Up" on the top), click here.

 

INTERVIEW WITH YA FANTASY AUTHORS JACKIE CASTLE AND J. M. HACKMAN

"Lawful Authority" by Meghan Williams, Dyed4YouArt

 

I'm doing a first: I'm interviewing not one but two authors this time around. Jackie Castle and J. M. Hackman have written two of my favorite fantasy series: respectively The White Road Tales (6 novels plus some novellas) and the Firebrand Chronicles (3 novels). I thought it would be fun to interview both authors together and compare some of their thoughts.

One quick comment: the picture above is courtesy of Meghan Williams.  It has nothing to do with either of the fantasy series, but I thought it fit discussing that genre.

To make this easier to keep track of who's who, my print is in black, Jackie Castle's is in red, and J. M. Hackman's in blue.

JR: Let me start with the most important question first. If I need a combination companion, counselor, and chauffeur, which is the better option? A griffin like Arvandus or a centaur such as Lotari?

JC: Well, Lotari is not only a loyal companion and advisor, but he’s also a brave protector, as well. As far as the chauffeur, never ask a centaur for a ride: they get insulted when humans treat them like pack animals. However, because four legs are always faster than two, when they need to get somewhere, centaurs can be quite generous about offering a ride. Patience isn’t always a virtue with these creatures.

JH: Unlike a centaur, you can ride a griffin…if you’re bonded to each other.
Otherwise, you’re on your own. If you are bonded, though, you get all the benefits—wise, a little snark (a must when dealing with headstrong teens), and a fearsome protector. He’ll always have your back.

JR: Firebrands and Illuminates sound similar to each other. What are they? How are they alike and unlike?

J. M. Hackman (photo on left): In the Jasper Territory (a continent in the alternate world of Eventyr), everyone receives a gifting (or a talent) as they grow through puberty. Firebrands learn to create and manipulate fire with their bare hands, as well as heal using the warmth they create. It’s up to the user to decide how the talent will be used—for good or ill.

JC: In The White Road Chronicles, Illuminates are those gifted with the ability to glow. Their light can sometimes bring healing, or help a White Tree to flourish and produce fruit. Other Illuminates, called Empowered, can send power into their weapons or shoot bolts of light against the enemy.

JR: What was the inspiration of the White Road Tales and the Firebrand Chronicles?

Jackie Castle (photo on right): Wow, it’s been so long since I began the White Road journey. I remember having a dream about this girl that was trying to find her way home. She could glow and it was believed that she was a healer of the land. True story. I woke up and began wondering who that girl was and eventually, Alyra introduced herself. The White Road Chronicles is an allegory, in a way, of the Christian walk. We are given a path to follow, talents to see us through the challenges that arise during our journey, and if we’ll stay on our path, we will find safety and purpose. But how many of us truly stay on that narrow road all the time? It’s not as easy as it seems.

JH: I’ll be honest, Harry Potter inspired the Firebrand Chronicles. After finishing the Harry Potter series, I kept wondering three things: 

1) I believe God gives each person gifts, talents they’re to use for a specific purpose. What would it look like if an individual’s gift manifested itself in a more visible way, like being able to create fire?  

2) Where were the girls? Action-adventure tales gave us Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, and the entire motley crew who ran off to Mordor, but where were the females who did heroic, amazing feats? And lastly  

3) How would a neurodiverse character change the world? Because there are very few example of neurodiversity in fantasy, I wanted to give readers an inside view of ADHD. The more representation there is, the more people understand.  

JR: What talents do the people in your fantasy realms have? How can they be identified?

JH: There are literally too many to name (just like here on Earth), but there are twelve more common talents: Firebrand, Waterbrand, Illusionbrand, Weatherbrand, Builderbrand, Metalbrand, Sensitive, Time Reeler, Warrior, Finder, Wisdom Trainer, and Visionary. (Phew!) Sometimes, it’s impossible to identify someone’s talent; other times, like with a Weatherbrand, it’s obvious.

JC: Some people are illuminates, healers, guides, leaders, builders, warriors, ect. The talents in my series are more organic, though some are more powerful than others. I’ve jotted down a few talents, but I learn of more as I go along with each new story.

JR: Could you tell me about your villains Darnell and Rune? What techniques do they have to try to overthrow the true ruler of the realm? Are there any similarities how these scoundrels are fought with the Spiritual warfare we Christians face?

JC: Darnel’s rise to power is being told in the Chronicles of Alburnium series I’m currently writing. In the White Road Chronicles, he has already risen to power. I can’t really give away how he is overthrown, but I will say that the best way to overthrow our enemies is to get over our fear of them.

JH: Rune’s been amassing followers as he plans to fulfill his father’s desire for a One World Territory. But to do so he needs more power to overthrow the true ruler, Emperor Rexson. So he’s also on a quest to own the three most powerful artifacts of the Jasper Territory—the Sacred Veil, the Stones of the Spring, and the Caelestis Staff. My main characters fight Rune by using their God-given talents. Aside from prayer, this is the best way we can fight evil.

JR: Thank you both for your time. Would you like to let us know what your current/future projects are and let us know how we can keep up to date with you?

JH: These were fun questions! Currently, I’m revising a futuristic Snow White retelling. Think Snow White meets Star Wars in the vein of the Lunar Chronicles. I’ve plotted three of the four additional books in that series, all retellings. I’ll be looking for an agent for this project soon. I just wish I could write faster! J

To keep up to date with me, sign up for my newsletter at www.jmhackman.com. I release a newsletter every month (usually ;-) ). I talk about books I’ve read, share my current projects, and have occasional giveaways!

JC: I am currently writing finishing the second trilogy in the Chronicles of Alburnium. This series still takes place in Alburnium, but at an earlier time in history when the land was divided into Provinces which were ruled by Regents. This series chronicles Darnel’s rise to power. There are a few familiar faces as the books progress, but the stories involve all original characters and situations. You can keep up with me and my writing at www.jackiecastle.com.

INTERVIEW WITH MEGHAN WILLIAMS OF DYED4YOUART.COM

 

Wake Up, Dyed4YouArt

Great picture, isn't it? I discovered the work of Meghan Williams on Dyed4YouArt years ago, and I'm please to share the below interview.

JR: One bad habit I have is I include two or more questions as a single question, and I'm falling into that habit now. How did you become a Christian, how did you get into art, and when did you start your ministry of blending your art with your faith?

MW: Well I appreciate the clarity the extra questions add, so no worries! I first began digital imaging back in the early 1990s when I was in college and Photoshop was on version 1.2 and didn’t allow layers yet. For those who have never done any digital photo manipulation, basically what that means is if you cut something out from one picture to put into another picture you couldn’t move it or change it once it was placed. Basically get it right the first time, which is extremely challenging especially with how rudimentary the tools were then. This meant early efforts were nowhere near the incredibly photorealistic ones we get today, though we were excited by the technology at the time nonetheless.

My first job out of college was as a digital imager, so I spent many years pre-salvation creating digital art. (I got saved when I was 25.) I first began creating prophetic art though in 2009. At that time, my husband and I were part of monthly prayer meetings with James Nesbit, who is a powerful prophetic artist. He is a wonderful father in the faith and always has a mind to help those around him grow into their calling. At that time, I was about 2 years into Dyed4you, which is the ministry God birthed through me creating prophetic silks (both wearable and as worship flags). When James found out I used to do digital imaging for a living, he came and lay hands on me to pray for God to stir up that gifting to use for His glory.

Several months later I created my first piece called Stairway to Revelation
(https://dyed4youart.com/2009/11/stairway-to-revelation/). My early pieces always included an image of one of my silks, and the prophetic download that goes with the silk is typically connected to the download that goes with the art. This was how the prophetic art portion of the ministry became called Dyed4you Art.
 

Over the years the ministry has grown, and included in that is an amazing team of volunteers who support the ministry in prayer and also share prophetic downloads and insight as the Lord leads. Those pieces are then included with the silks and art pieces. The format for how we do that has evolved over the years, but at this point we have a rich collection of downloads much of which can be found at Dyed4youMinistries.com. (People are able to subscribe to receive the downloads via email.)

JR: I am blessed by your art, and my favorite is titled "Whisper His Name." What was that piece's inspiration? Have you received feedback from it?

MW: Ah yes, that piece is what I call a “crowd favorite.” I think it tends to resonate with people because many of us have had that feeling where we are just worn out, done in, and all we can do is just whisper His name and trust God’s got us. The inspiration for that piece came from the original picture of my friend (who also happens to be part of the Dyed4you Ministry Team) as she sat covered in a beaded veil.

Let me back up and say that I primarily use pictures of people I know and have photographed in the art I create. There’s a variety of reasons for that, including that this has helped me to align the anointing of the person in an image with the anointing of the art piece. For example my ministry partner, Larisa, carries a heavy warfare anointing. So many of the Dyed4you Art pieces I’ve created that use a picture of her have that fierce feel to them (e.g. “Empowered by Love” and “Thundering Vanquisher”).

So with “Whisper His Name,” I was conscious of the trials my friend was walking through and the expression was definitely captured in the original image and then highlighted in the final art piece, which again is why I feel like it’s resonated with so many people. 

As to which is my favorite, it shifts over the years. I enjoy the fact that I can appreciate Dyed4you Art on multiple levels - as an artist, as a contributor to the prophetic download that goes with each piece, and as a recipient. (And of course, I enjoy appreciating them in connection with all the testimonies too.) 

Several years back we began offering Prophetic “Portraits” (https://www.etsy.com/listing/515237228), which essentially means I create a new piece (without input from the recipient) based on whatever download God gives me and/or the Dyed4you Team. Prophetic “Portraits” are a great way for someone to receive a download without any of their personal biases or focuses.

Let me pause briefly to explain what I mean because I’m passionate about helping people understand the prophetic (i.e. hearing God) and understanding how they flow in it. People can receive a prophetic word from us at anytime simply by allowing God to highlight one of the Dyed4you Art pieces to them and then going to read the word or allowing Him to simply speak to them through it. As we like to say, we give a portion of a conversation with God, not a conversation in its entirety. So the hope is that each person will continue that conversation with God personally.  

However, often people don’t trust themselves to pick or find they’re drawn based on biased (e.g. favorite color, person in the image resonates with them for a specific reason or the opposite may be true), so the Prophetic “Portrait” is a great way to bypass all that since it doesn’t allow for the person ordering it to give input. So if they want to have art created connected to a specific scripture or vision, we can do that, but it’s considered commissioned art which is different.

The beauty of the Prophetic “Portrait” is the complete release of control. You have to trust the process completely and trust God to move through it. I actually share my experience of going through this process with another prophetic artist on my personal blog.

So back to the original question, often the Prophetic “Portraits” will end up being timely words for me too. So two of my current favorites are “Accepted and Loved"

(above, left) and the yet unreleased “Soaking in the Waters of Life” (below left), both of which I have framed and hanging on my wall and both of which began as Prophetic “Portraits.” Though in fairness I have just over 30 Dyed4you Art pieces hanging in my home I believe, not to mention quite a few from other artists. Suffice it to say I’ve had to get creative with how I hang things LOL!

JR: Any of your art memorable? Maybe by how it was inspired. Maybe by being a struggle to complete. Which are the ones that affected you the most?

MW: LOL well you have to remember these are my babies, so that’s like asking a parent if their child is memorable. To me each one has a story, and there’s no repeating pattern in how they’re made. Sometimes I’ll have a vision or see something that sparks an idea, sometimes one of the Dyed4you team members will get something that kicks one off, sometimes something that happens in a church service or prayer meeting can stir an idea - it literally could be anything.

That said, a few of the other crowd favorites stand out. The first two are Lion of Judah images and they also happen to be popular art flag styles.  As a side note, the art flags are what brought the Dyed4you Art portion of the ministry into the black. The first eight years I was creating prophetic art, I would spend hundreds of hours creating and images would get shared all over online, but I could probably count on my fingers how many prints I’d sell in a year. First and foremost my heart for Dyed4you Ministries is that it is in fact a ministry, so I had to choose to keep blessing the Body of Christ with what Papa put on my heart and trust that He’d cover me. And He has. But it also was a true joy to find a product that the community would find worth investing in. So the flagging community supports the creation of Dyed4you Art, and the top two favorite art flags are our Lion of Judah flag and our Jealous God flag.

Our Lion of Judah flag is based on our Dyed4you Art piece “Listen to the Sound,”  which was inspired by Misty Edwards’ song “People Get Ready.” There’s a line that says, “I can hear the rhythm of the Lion of the tribe of Judah,” and I started seeing a sound wave (which actually made it into the art piece). The other top favorite art flag is Jealous God, which is based on our Dyed4you Art piece “No Other Gods." That one is inspired by the name of God “El Qanna,” which means Jealous God. It comes out of Exodus 34 which is the scripture that is visible overlaying the lions face in the art piece. A customer just posted a breathtaking video using a pair of these on YouTube https://youtu.be/w09fLSqkNGg - it really gives the art a whole new layer of prophetic download and release when you see it in motion.

The final piece that really needs to be mentioned is Into the King’s Chambers. This piece pictures the bride ascending a flight of stairs with the Lion of Judah awaiting her at the top. The image was inspired by a conversation I had with a Dyed4you customer. She was planning a conference by the same name and shared the theme with me. The imagery came to me as she was speaking. As it turned out the conference wasn’t able to go forward, but the art piece inspired by it has born a lot of fruit. I feel like that whole experience is a beautiful example of how God’s plans aren’t always our plans, but they’re always good! I actually had the opportunity to catch up the the customer earlier this year and share about how many people have specifically been blessed by my visualization of the vision God had given her. She was deeply blessed - because I’m sure most of us know what it feels like to *think* God is taking us one way only to have Him redirect us and we’re like “what just happened there?!” LOL! So it’s nice to be able to bring that fruit back and share it.

JR: There's a book out called Facing Snarls and Scowls: Preaching Through Hostility, Apathy, and Affliction. I'm sure you face that from the church as well as attacks from the world as well. What strengthens you to continue to persevere?

MW: Happily, on the whole we haven’t dealt with a lot of attacks. The ones we’ve had have been exclusively from within the church though, which has definitely been disheartening. When those moments come I always try to step out of my personal feelings and remember God is sovereign. So I just ask why He’s allowing the situation to occur. This typically allows for a peaceful resolution, or at worst we simply choose to part ways.

JR: Thank you for your time. What projects are you currently working on? How can the readers keep up with your ministry?

MW: Thank you for inviting me to join you! At any given time I always have portions of downloads started or images partially worked on. Over the years I’ve learned to be patient. I’m intentional to not get out in front of God. So I work on something until I can feel resistance, which tells me there isn’t anointing there for it yet. So I back off and wait. Sometimes things will sit for years before being completed, sometimes things get birthed end-to-end in one day - but I just try to stay in step with where I feel the anointing - as I’m sure we all strive to do!

For people who enjoy the artwork, following Dyed4you Art on FB is a great way to keep up. You can also find any new art pieces in our gallery at Dyed4youArt.com (or if there’s a piece you enjoy and you’d like to see the download that goes with it, you can find them via the alphabetized list too [http://dyed4youart.com/art/]). The Dyed4youMinistries.com blog as well as my personal blog MeghanW.com both can be subscribed to via email as well.

Thank you again so much for this opportunity. It’s been wonderful even taking the time to pause and remember. Hopefully others will be blessed by the journey.