M Y   A R T I S T I C   J O U R N E Y has brought me to a place of great expectation as to what God is doing through the arts in our world today.

Since childhood I’ve spent time being creative and finding great joy in using my artistic gifts. It was while spending a year in Norway with Youth With A Mission, that I was awakened to a “total connection” between my faith and my creative gifts. It was a year of discovering my true identity, an identity in who Christ says I am, an identity that went beyond the artist I saw myself as. This led to a major shift in my motivation for creating because I realized that I could create as a response to the Creator, God, who loves me. My paradigm changed from “I create to find acceptance and value for what I am able to produce” to “I create because I am loved, and there is nothing I can produce to be more loved, accepted, or valued than I already am through Christ.” I now have a new freedom, through that assurance, to experiment with color and more thoroughly enjoy the creative process! It has become like prayer for me. It is a place that I connect with God, my inspiration comes from Him. He has ideas for paintings He wants me to paint before I even step up to the canvas. I submit my gifts to the Lord for the glory of His name and to be a blessing to those around me.

I believe God has a heart for artists. The creativity in His kingdom is a testimonial to His appreciation for the work of a creative person. God is always working, through mankind, to redeem and restore the cultures of this world, to bring them back to his original intention, to glorify His name. Because art transcends cultural barriers, artists of faith can have a vital part in the movement of God virtually anywhere in the world. I long to be a part of God’s utilization of the arts to bring about His purposes on this earth.

Anneli Anderson was influential in starting the arts ministry of Imago Dei Community in Portland, Oregon and continues to be active in the arts community there. She has a passion to connect with God’s heart for the arts and help others to find freedom in their creative process by connecting their faith with their art. She has completed a school for artists in missions and ministry with Youth With A Mission, giving her a global perspective and a vision for arts ministry. Anneli has studied arts and faith issues with artist visionaries such as Makoto Fujimura, founder of the International Arts Movement, NYC.

Anneli is a freelance graphic artist/illustrator by trade as well as a painter and has shown her work in several shows in Portland. Her work has also been published in various publications and books.