Rusty Lynn

Artist Statement: I believe my art emerges from a deep place within.  My intuition leads me to discover what line, shape, and color  have to show me as I play with paint and form.  My intention is to stretch toward images my deep self chooses to reveal.  Sometimes my art appears childlike, sometimes ideas from ancient art appear.  Spirit leads me when I get out of the way.  I am excited to see what emerges.

I use acrylic paint and inks, watercolors, paint markers, collage techniques, and wax crayons in my paintings.  I use various kinds of scrap materials and discarded objects in the sculptures and assemblages I make.

My studio is in Arlington, VA at Crystal City Underground in the Red Studios  I am a member of the Arlington Artist Alliance and the Del Ray Artisans Gallery in Alexandria.  I have presented numerous talks on the history of abstract art and other topics in art history, including topics in faith and art.  My artwork has been shown at numerous venues and galleries in the Washington Metropolitan Area and is in the collections of numerous persons and organizations.

Bio: I earned a BA degree from Macalester College with a major in Fine Art and a minor in humanities.  I earned a Master of Divinity from McCormick Seminary and then a Master of Social Work from Catholic University.  I was ordained to a community arts ministry, and then served parishes in Christian Education and leadership development.  As a social worker I worked in the AIDS Program at Whitman Walker Clinic, then as a pastoral counselor in private practice, and with The Center for Pastoral Counseling of Virginia.  Although I put my art making aside for most of my years in ministry, I made use of many creative and artistic approaches in my work with people.  When I retired from full-time active ministry in March, 2008, my zeal for making art sprang to the forefront of my life.

I live in Arlington with my husband, Ed and our cat Bentley.

Courses I have developed and taught:

“Mindful Meditation for Enhanced Creativity” - a ten week course using mindful mediation and journaling to enhance participants approach to art making and recognizing the blocks that get in their way of being free as they create art.

“Image Play” - a six week course based in the method of art and image making practiced at The Open Studio Project in Evanston, Illinois and outlined by Pat Allen in Art Is A Spiritual Path.  This course teaches using an Intention statement befiore art making and them writing a Witness statement with the art after art making.  I had gone to The Open Studio over 5 weekends after I retired to attend their weekend training for art therapists and became a certified trainer with them as a result of the training.

“Listening and Art Making” - a one session class based on the approach to reading of scripture that involves reading and reflecting on a passage.  In this aprons, participants listen to a passage read several times in silence and then create a piece of art using simple materials such as crayons or pencils or collage to express their response to an aspect of the passage read.