Personal Narrative: My Life As A Coptic Orthodox Christian

Art is a way for humans to express creativity and imagination in various mediums of work. Art can come in the forms but are not limited to paintings, sculptures, architecture, statues, dramas, plays, music, and dance. To me, art is something that causes the person observing the artwork to feel a certain emotion such as pain, love, fear, or sadness. A great piece of artwork can make the viewer almost feel like they can replace themselves with those involved in the medium and feel the exact emotion as those in the piece feel. An example of this would be viewing the play Cyrano de Burgerac, where the playwright or artist of the play makes it possible for the viewers’ hearts to break as Roxane tells Cyrano how great the words of

Art helped me learn to express the feelings I couldn’t say and during that time period and I choosing to study it is the greatest decision I have ever made. Art is the reason I live now. It gives me hope, happiness, and an ability to escape. I love how it can change my view and to make me feel things. This year one of my illustrations was hung in the Museum of Contemporary Art: La Jolla, and I could not be prouder.

The thought of art is more than what you see it is what you feel and what you learn from looking at it. Art can heal the soul and create and new outlook on images we may see every day. Sadly, we may not always see the art in things, pieces, or, humans.

Since many career paths were closed to a illegitimate child, art was an obvious choice for me. At the age of 15, my father noticed the artistic talent in me and apprenticed me to the noted sculptor and painter Andrea de Verrocchio of Florence. (SparkNotes Editors). Life as an apprentice was pretty boring in the beginning, performing simple chores, almost as a servant would. Later, I learned to prepare pigments and canvases; then I started to study my masters’ works and models. My first well known contribution was in my master’s Baptism of Christ (Reti 98). I painted the leftmost angel with such graceful quality unlike any figure in the painting. According to my first biographer, “Everyone acknowledged that this was true of Leonardo da Vinci, an artist of outstanding physical beauty who displayed infinite grace in everything he did and who cultivated his genius so brilliantly that all problems he studied were solved with ease. He possessed great strength and dexterity; he was a man of regal spirit and tremendous breadth of mind..."(Vasari). Unfortunately, my master grew ashamed of his own paintings because of how other people complimented on my painting skills. He eventually abandoned painting.

As I write this post, a recent memory springs up in my mind. Earlier this year, my dad had an art show at the Steffen Thomas Museum focused on Christian Art. One afternoon, Chris and I decided to go over there so I could look at his show. I am always amazed at my dad's art and this was no exception. As we went from painting to painting, I could not imagine the countless hours he spent on each one of these paintings.

A micro-culture is a group of people within a culture that differentiates them from the larger culture to which they belong. As a member of the Christian faith, a micro-culture that I strongly associate myself with is Coptic Orthodoxy. There are many branches of Christianity all over the world today and Coptic Orthodoxy is one that is constantly growing.

Another passion in my life is art, which has always been a place of refuge, an area of comfort, a way to relax, and an outlet to express myself. One day I want to provide this same satisfaction and healing to others. As a daughter of a graphic designer and sister to an artist, I have always been immersed in the world of creativity and art, which has helped build my love and passion for it. Not only do I desire to use art to help children overcome traumatic experiences or difficulties, but also as a means to see the beautiful creativity of God.

Since the dawn of society, religion and art have been intertwined with the purpose of conveying a message. Religious artwork allows individuals to come together under one cause and share a meaningful relationship with one another. For

Again, art is a sort of propaganda. It's used to give a message or emotion to a circumstance. Art is also comparative in some prospects, in order to interpret why artists create this work is to look at the past and history. However, it cannot be applied to all works of art. Art is universal, meaning that many respective people can relate to a single work of art. It can also be used as a type of communication between people. Art is apparent within each organized religion. Meaning is sent through the paintings of

Everyday Sunday, some people go to church or take a morning jog, well my Sundays are a bit different. My Sundays consist of a two hour long drawing session in a little red square building called East Art Studio. I spent many years learning how to draw or paint even though I knew my mind was not set on becoming an artist. However, the years I spent drawing did give me time to reflect on my life. As a result, East Art Studios guided me toward a path I want to pursue.

Over the many years of paying attention and observing my surroundings I came across different talents that was either inherited or self-learned. Those talents were crafting and being able to help anyone or anything with positive opinion and comments. When I was becoming a 5th grader in Cabot Yerxa Elementary, I discovered that I had a creative mind and creative hands when I was about to make a sculpture. In the wonderful class of Ms. Ward, we were making a small yet fun projects. I was making a small paper origami dragon and it turned out to be a actual origami dragon. I thought of making the dragon wrong by ripping the paper but turns out it was amazing. After doing so many project and crafting so many different kinds of origami and sculptures I started to understand why I was brought here on earth.

Spirituality is held by all cultures. War is an active hostility, contention or struggle. My spirituality is not perfect nor is set. I constantly feel like I am experiencing spiritual turmoil or warfare. Throughout our lives we constantly go back and forth in our heads, having mental fights a lot. I was born into a Coptic Orthodox religion. A Coptic Christian is called “Coptic” because this is the Afro-Asiatic language of the Coptic’s, which survives only as a liturgical language of the Coptic Church. Others define Coptic as “Egyptian” or “Straight Path” so a Coptic Christian could be called an Egyptian Christian or a Christian in the Middle East or Afro-Asiatic region.

Art is an object or piece of work that brings one pleasure. Art is also something you see or feel and you cannot even begin to describe the ways you like it or how it makes you feel. Art is something that portrays beauty and happiness. Art lets you see the world through another person’s perspective. Most art seems to tell a story about where a person has been and the things they have encountered along the way. It lets you connect with the artist and see things through their eyes. Art is a way of expressing one’s self without words. When I think of art, I think of paintings, portraits, sketches, and sculptures.

Religion is a big factor in a lot of people 's lives. In fact, over 2.2 billion people around the world practice the Christian faith. One of the appeals about pieces that relate to the Christian art

A lot of people think that art can only go as far as a class in school, but in reality there is art around everyone. Art can be a way of life for some people, and for others it is simply just something they pass every single day. What they do not realize is that art can have benefits in different aspects in their life, in children's lives, and even the world around them.