The Artist’s Rule

Christine Valters Paintner, author of Water, Wind, Earth, and Fire, invites readers to discover and develop their creative gifts in a spirit of prayer and reflection. This twelve-week course draws on the insights and practices of Benedictine spirituality to explore the interplay between contemplation and creativity.

Summarized in the phrase “pray and work,” The Rule of St. Benedict provides the inspiration for Christine Valters Paintner’s newest exploration of the mutually nourishing relationship between contemplative practices and creative expression. Artists of all stripes and stations in life–poets or painters, potters or photographers–will discover how traditions of Benedictine, Celtic, and desert spirituality can offer new sources of inspiration for their work.

Through this twelve-week course, themes like “Sacred Tools and Sacred Space,” “Creative Solitude and Community,” and “Nature as a Source of Revelation and Inspiration” are enriched by Paintner’s perceptive discussion and enhanced by insightful quotations from well-known artists and writers. Each week offers suggestions for grounding both the creative and the spiritual life through three basic practices: walking, lectio divina, and journaling. In sync with Paintner’s vibrant Internet presence, The Artist’s Rule is supplemented with online resources, including guided meditation podcasts, video lessons, and discussions.

Christine Valters Paintner is the online Abbess of AbbeyoftheArts.com, a virtual monastery without walls offering resources, classes, and books on contemplative practice and creative expression.  She is a writer, artist, spiritual director, retreat facilitator, teacher and the author of several books including Water, Wind, Earth, and Fire: The Christian Practice of Praying with the Elements (Ave Maria Press 2010).  Christine earned her doctorate in Christian spirituality from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley and her professional status as registered expressive arts consultant and educator from the International Expressive Arts Therapy Association. She also serves as an adjunct faculty at Seattle University’s School of Theology and Ministry. Paintner is a Benedictine Oblate and lives out her lay monastic commitment as a Benedictine Oblate in the heart of Seattle with her husband.