Julia Hendrickson
7 min read ⭑
“I believe that our lives can be lived as a prayer, meaning that every action and interaction we participate in is spiritual.”
QUESTION #1: ACQUAINT
There’s much more to food than palate and preference. How does a go-to meal at your favorite hometown restaurant reveal the true you behind the web bio?
As someone that has had the privilege of living in many different states and communities, I have found that even more important than finding a favorite local spot is the act of creating that local spot by hosting around my dinner table. Welcoming new friends into my space is a way of bolstering those fledgling relationships. Starting with a follow-up text after a casual interaction and offering a dinner is a great way for others to feel “chosen.”
Priya Parker gives a lot of insight in her book “The Art of Gathering” about the importance of intent when gathering. For me, it’s frequently about establishing community and home in the midst of a peripatetic life.
So when my friends arrive, I like to have a cheese board ready with a few options and a custom drink for the evening. For the main course, I might serve a seared steak (if they eat such things), oven-roasted baby Dutch potatoes and arugula dressed with lemon and salt. Keeping things easy to prepare means that I can focus my attention where it matters — on the deepening relationships. If my friends prefer vegetables, then a smorgasbord of roasted, fried, pureed and fresh options paired with balsamic and herbs. Either option makes for a simple and direct meal, and it’s easier to prepare ahead so we can enjoy the glowing candlelight around my table with thoughtful, interactive conversation.
Restaurants can be nice, but by removing worries about cross-contamination for those with allergies and interruptions from servers — along with having a soundscape — the overall feeling is much more intentional. The satisfaction of fellowship is paired with fruit, chocolate and ice cream (a true reminder that God loves us) as a sweet note to end the evening.
Sapan Patel; Unsplash
QUESTION #2: REVEAL
We’ve all got quirky proclivities and out-of-the-way interests. So what are yours? What so-called “nonspiritual” activities do you love and help you find spiritual renewal?
I believe that our lives can be lived as a prayer, meaning that every action and interaction we participate in is spiritual. For example, I go on long walks. Eight miles a day is my average. I use this time to process and observe. As I currently live in southern California, there’s so much blooming year-round. Finding a new flower to document on a walk, or a different angle of the light through the trees means that even in the midst of the familiar, you can notice nuance. This is part of an artist’s work.
Sometimes I employ the color-walk observation system that Dr. Elissa Yukiko Weichbrodt teaches. It involves focusing your attention on finding all the instances of one specific color. This practice always brings unexpected delights and turns my attention to things I don’t typically spot on my daily walks.
I also like to read books. I read over 100 books per year with a 60-40 split between fiction and nonfiction. I’ve received a lot of formal education (and thus have done a lot of required reading), so it’s great to be able to choose what to read now. I value the world-building that can happen in fiction as well as the technical information presented in nonfiction. Each category gifts new perspectives and skills.
Some of my favorite recent reads are “A Psalm for the Wild-Built,” “A Prayer for the Crown-Shy” by Becky Chambers (a fiction novella duology) and “Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism” by Amanda Montell (nonfiction).
QUESTION #3: CONFESS
Every superhero has a weakness. Every human, too. We’re just good at faking it. But who are we kidding? We’re broken and in this thing together. So what’s your kryptonite and how do you hide it?
I am someone who keeps working even when it would be beneficial to take a break. It’s a major growing edge. It helps to frame breaks and rest as the work I have to do to be at peak operation, but it also misses the mark in terms of valuing it independently.
QUESTION #4: FIRE UP
Tell us about your toil. How are you investing your professional time right now? What’s your obsession? And why should it be ours?
I seek to create moments of pause and reflection in the midst of daily scrolling through what I share on Instagram. I’ll continue doing this as long as God calls me to it, and I’m focused on showing up faithfully.
More and more people are viewing timelapses of my painting process, which is a time of prayer for me in the tradition of Opera Divina, which is work as a holy offering and conversation. So how do I remain focused in that prayerful work, not forecasting who might see it and what might happen as a result?
As someone who has been making art throughout my life, I’ve cultivated a relationship with my materials over the years. I think of them as guests at a proverbial dinner table. (I wrote about that here.) Years ago, I wrote, “I don’t just want to make an image; I want to have a conversation,” and this still holds true.
QUESTION #5: BOOST
Cashiers, CEOs, contractors, or customer service reps, we all need grace flowing into us and back out into the world. How does the Holy Spirit invigorate your work? And how do you know it’s God when it happens?
When working with pigment and salt, I don’t know exactly how an image will resolve. I might have inklings, but even the humidity on a given day dramatically changes the outcome. In this process, I find mystery. In this process, there’s a surrendered offering.
Because my goal is to create moments of reflection with my images, I find an important element of creating space. Not just the biomimetic micro and macro worlds that the paintings evoke but also the viewer’s ability to slow down and feel the wind moving around them, hear the sound of the ocean, smell the freshness of the ozone and the trees. The monochromatic palette I adhere to plays a part in helping people slow down for reflection, which is what I’m trying to offer viewers.
QUESTION #6: inspire
Scripture and tradition beckon us into the rich and varied actions that open our hearts to the presence of God. So spill it, which spiritual practice is workin’ best for you right now?
As I mentioned earlier, I do my painting in the tradition of Opera Divina, that is, work as prayer. This is one of the most sustaining practices in my whole life. When working, each brush stroke becomes a prayer, almost like a breath prayer. “May this bless. May this be constructive. May there be peace. Healing. Grace. Hope. Love. Joy. Gentleness. Kindness. Flourishing. Mending.” With each interaction between the paper and pigment, my heart and mind reach out toward the divine petitioning for these blessings — not only in the construction of the image but also for all those who might see it.
QUESTION #7: FOCUS
Our email subscribers get free ebooks featuring our favorite resources — lots of things that have truly impacted our faith lives. But you know about some really great stuff, too. What are three resources that have impacted you?
When I was 13, my parents started me on the Gideons International Bible-reading plan, Gideons International Bible-reading plan, which leads you to read the Bible in a year. While I still read through the Bible every year, I now find it easier to do so with the YouVersion Bible app.
As a maker (as well as a Fujimura Fellow and IAMCulture Care board member), I find that Makoto Fujimura’s book “Art and Faith: A Theology of Making” gives a beautiful metaphoric and theological frame for my understanding of art-making.
The last resource I’ll share is my library card. I cannot emphasize enough what a great resource public libraries are in the United States. Many are even accessible through apps like Libby. And yes, all of these resources are book-centric because reading is a major part of my life and work. (I need to do something while I wait for the paint to dry, right?)
We all have things we cling to to survive (or thrive) in tough times. Name one resource you’ve found indispensable in this current season — and tell us what it’s done for you.
An N-95 mask. I have complicated immune responses due to chronic illness. So this scientifically proven barrier, which helps reduce particulate transfer, allows me to take long walks and observe the world.
QUESTION #8: dream
God is continually stirring new things in each of us. So give us the scoop! What’s beginning to stir in you but not yet fully awakened? What can we expect from you in the future?
In my communal work, I’m putting together a work called “Anthology of Sound: Stories of the In-Between” with Brianna Kinsman and Jeremy Hunt. It invites everyone to contribute their stories of “in-between” times for a new podcast offering through IAM Culture Care. You can find more information here.
Will people submit? Will these stories we receive fit with the generative narrative we believe is important to share? In my personal work, I’m interested in finding new places to share my work outside of social media platforms. This is an act of discernment on multiple levels and something that is still very much in the exploratory (not even planning) stage.
The Bible has a lot to say about slowing down and fixing our thoughts on God:
“O God, we meditate on your unfailing love as we worship in your Temple” (Psalm 48:9, NLT).
“I remember the days of old. I ponder all your great works and think about what you have done” (Psalm 143:5, NLT).
“And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise” (Philippians 4:8, NLT).
What helps you slow down, focus on God, and notice the life and beauty around you that he created? Is it taking long walks, like Julia Hendrickson? Finding a quiet spot with your Bible and a journal? Or maybe simply sitting alone in the car for a few extra minutes when you arrive at your destination?
Slowing down to think about God doesn’t have to be a drawn-out ritual. We can find him anytime, anywhere. So how will you find him this week?
Julia Hendrickson is an artist and theologian. Her primary medium is watercolor (Winsor & Newton’s Payne’s Gray) and salt (Morton’s Coarse Kosher) on paper (Rives BFK). She posts her work with reflections and questions on Instagram as an example of Opera Divina, daily work as prayer. Julia has a Master of Fine Arts from Cranbrook Academy of Art in Print | Media and a Master of Divinity from Fuller Theological Seminary. She’s a Fujimura Fellow and strives to be generative in acts of culture care. While waiting for paint to dry, Julia takes long walks, documents flowers and reads.
