Overwhelmed by another’s inspired creativity by Claire Musters

We have recently come back from a wonderfully relaxing family holiday in Tuscany. We were located in a tiny village, surrounded by vineyards and olive trees, with a backdrop of mountains as far as the eye could see. I spent many moments staring at the incredible scenery from our small private pool, marvelling at the opportunity we had to relax in such a place.

As a family, we love getting out and exploring too, and it was wonderful to see the different ways our children’s interest was pricked. My daughter loved visiting the hill-top towns and discovering the shops tucked away in cobbled streets. I was amazed at how much my son enjoyed finding the oldest sections of each town – particularly any dungeon-like areas! (My husband ensured we visited the gelateria in each town!)

There was one day that we all agree was the absolute highlight of our trip, and it was because of an artist that we literally just stumbled upon. We climbed up a steep street to look at the local church, and my eye was caught by the building next door as it was advertising an art exhibition – we headed over there first.

As soon as we stepped inside, we were all transfixed. The artist’s work was absolutely incredible; so intricate and detailed – and vast. But what delighted us most were the stories that accompanied each canvas. Sometimes the pictures were snapshots of particular countries, while others were completely fictional but depicting a specific theme. 

We were able to meet and chat to the artist at length, and I was totally caught up in wonder when he described how he works. He writes those stories/paragraphs first, and then simply draws a response to them with pen and ink, letting his imagination flow. 

The stories were sometimes extremely personal: one of my daughter’s favourite pictures was of hundreds of books and letters flying amongst them – with a magnifying glass you can actually read them (in a mixture of English and Italian). The piece is called “The things I’ve never told you” and the letters are all to his father – things he regrets he never said. He commented to our kids that, however they feel as they grow older, they must keep the conversation going with us…

We were all enraptured by his work – and him as he was so open and friendly. I think I was so taken with what I saw because, deep down, I knew he was doing something I’ve always wanted to. As I left, I settled in my heart that I will never take the gift of creativity for granted – and will try to keep developing it in as many ways as I can. I know that we all felt it was a real privilege to have discovered the exhibition, and we came away feeling richer for the experience.

Claire is a freelance writer, speaker and editor, mum to two gorgeous children, pastor’s wife, worship leader and school governor. Her books include Taking off the mask: daring to be the person God created you to be, Cover to Cover: Ezekiel A prophet for all times, Cover to Cover: 1–3 John Walking in the truth, Cover to Cover: David: A man after God's own heart, Insight Into Managing Conflict, Insight Into Self-acceptance and Insight Into Burnout. She also writes Bible study notes. To find out more about her, please visit www.clairemusters.com and @CMusters on Twitter.