“Last summer, I fasted. I asked the Lord to speak to me about the gift of creativity He gave me that I hadn’t tended in years. In the process, He answered and was with me.”
Hollie is an American living in Florence, a recovering artist, and a Pioneer seeking God’s heart for His church in Italy. She always knew she’d live in Europe, but didn’t predict the way art would give her a voice in Italy over the years.
In December, Hollie was invited by a local church to do a solo art show. Nuova Vita Downtown Bologna hosts an annual show spotlighting a different visual artist each year. When Hollie was invited, she was visiting the States and had no artwork in progress. She returned in mid-January, was sick for weeks, and worried whether she would have enough work for the show.
“It was an honor they asked me, especially as a recovering creative just getting back into artmaking. I love how this church understands the arts - and in particular the visual arts - are a language everyone speaks and is a beautiful means to connect with others who may not ever enter a church.”
As members of the community gathered and mingled, they were welcomed and invited to engage with a diptych Hollie had done of a paper bag and a carafe. There was a concert, a short gospel message and, of course, some food and drink. When the show began, it was clear Hollie had the right amount of artwork and anything more would have been too much. The Lord showed Hollie her work was perfectly sufficient and that He is, too.
“One of the works I sent in for the show was a cube drawn in pencil… It’s a basic building block for everything and certainly not “show-worthy” but I brought it anyway. And would you believe –a man who was invited by a church member was quite taken with it and the explanation I gave. Between that conversation and an interview where I shared my thoughts on the diptych, this man decided to start coming to church.”
Hollie loved art from a young age and God used its hold on her life to create a pathway for knowing Him. Art was her safe space through mentally and emotionally dark teenage years. She struggled with the general education requirements of American study programs, so she opted to attend art school in Europe. She landed in Florence for the first time where she studied for two years until 9/11 happened and the world changed.
“My mother jokes that I was born with a crayon. I fell in love with Michelangelo and the Renaissance at twelve and painted part of the Sistine on my bedroom wall with house paint at fourteen.”
“While I physically came back to Texas, I always said I left my soul in Florence and tried to return every year for the next decade. During this season, I quit painting seriously and merely dabbled when I had time, as a single mom trying to survive. In July 2011, I began a spiritual workbook to recover creativity called The Artist’s Way. Part of the (workbook) program is to do stream-of-consciousness writing first thing in the morning. In that process, I learned my love of Italy was holding me back in a lot of ways - it was idolatry.”
At the time, Hollie didn’t know the Lord and couldn’t identify art as an idol. She began a process of saying goodbye to Italy, writing a letter to Florence and officially letting go of the attachment. The Lord saved her the very next day.
“I literally had to make room in my heart for Him.”
As an early Christian, Hollie read Francis Schaeffer’s How Then Should We Live and began the ongoing process of forming a vision for arts ministry. The constant practice of starting, stopping, failing, and starting over has given her countless moments to process with the Lord and shape her vision for ministry.
Hollie is now passionate about Christians making art in new and adaptive ways, not necessarily focusing on Scripture or overtly religious themes. She is practicing and leading others to worship God through excellence in their art, no matter what the motivation or message of the piece may be.
“I can tell you as someone who has been a shadow artist their entire life… in trusting your talent to the One who gave it to you, there is a profoundly beautiful gospel message in learning how to see and how to see well.”
The road ahead for ministry through Hollie’s art has countless possibilities. She is inviting Christians to join her in this process of Christian art. She loves the process of recovering creativity, pursuing academic art professionally, and finding the voice God gave her as she reenters the art world. She hopes to gather believers and nonbelievers together to create, talk about art, and discuss real parts of life.
“I would love to train people how to talk about art as a means of connection and gospel truths. We can go to draw or meet in small groups to engage those around us. Ideally, I see creating a rhythm of going to museums and in time, creating a growing community who meets afterward to discuss what we see… that may even become a church.”
Hollie would like to build a team to do this in Florence. Perhaps you or someone you know would be well-suited for this ministry in Italy. Perhaps her story has sparked ideas about pursuing innovation and flexibility on the mission field in Europe. If her journey resonates with you and your affection for art could lead you to join Pioneers in Europe, commit that vision to God in prayer and connect with us below.