PAINTER- Flo Knox

Hi, this is Bernie Dake.

Welcome to the Salvation Army's Words of Life. Hi, this is Chris Benjamin. I'm the producer of the show and director for the Salvation Army Soundcast. We're now in our second week of a new series called Crafted. And throughout the series, we're interviewing different artists and craftspeople of all types of mediums, not only learning about their passion, but also learning how they use their art as an act of worship and an act of rest. And in this week, we are speaking with a painter and a calligrapher, all-around creative person. Her name is Flo Knox. We just had a blast, so I hope you enjoy this conversation.

Flo Knox, welcome to Words of Life. Thank you for joining us. Thank you for having me. We are in this series called Crafted, and we are interviewing different artists of all types of mediums and just finding out, learning about their passion, learning about how they use their art and worship, and just hopefully it's contagious to give someone else who's maybe, like we were talking before the show, a little bit of courage to really dive into something they're already passionate about. So first, I know you, like me, we work for the Salvation Army at the territorial headquarters here in Atlanta. What do you do for the Salvation Army? So I'm the executive administrative assistant for the business administration, and I work with Lieutenant Colonel James Seiler, and I'm really loving my work here.

Before that, I was working up at national headquarters as the national disaster director, and I have to tell you, I miss all the people I work with, but I really enjoy what I'm doing. So as our listeners can hear, depending on where in the world you're listening from, your accent doesn't sound like it's from Atlanta, Georgia, so where do you come from originally? I'm originally from Northern Ireland. I was born in a little town called Newry in County Down, and I have lived here. I actually met the Salvation Army in London in England, and shortly after I became a soldier, I came over to the United States to work at camp, and I loved camp. I really did, and I came back the following year, and I met my husband.

The poor guy didn't stand a chance. I'd work hard, but he didn't stand a chance, and we've been married for 37 years now. Oh, that's wonderful. That's wonderful. So we found you, as far as being an artist, as a watercolorist, as a calligraphy artist. Just give us a little bit of a snapshot as far as what is your craft. How did you come to it?

Do you know what? I have, like many people, I've done a lot of different arts and crafts. I love just about anything to do with arts and crafts, but over the years, it has narrowed down.

I've also done a lot of sewing and quilting and those kinds of things, all in the same kind of genre. I just love art, and I started to do, just recently started to do the modern calligraphy. I did the old-fashioned kind of calligraphy.

When I started to see the modern calligraphy, I really liked it a lot. I've ended up combining my modern calligraphy with my watercolor interests. I really love doing watercoloring. Watercoloring is very forgiving. What's really kind of fun is, with YouTube and all the different artists on YouTube, you can easily learn more techniques about watercoloring than I ever could before. When you try to do it by yourself, forget it, you're never going to do well in it. But when you see what other people do and they show you how to do it, and all the different tips and tricks about what kind of paint to have, what kind of brushes to use, those all really matter and they really help. When you follow the directions that you get from the YouTubers, you can actually paint something that you recognize and that other people recognize, which is really nice.

So anyway, that's my cupboard. If you're doing it for you, and I'm not going to show this to anybody, just do it and just go crazy. It's the act of doing it that brings you the joy.

So I guess you've got to decide who you're really doing it for, and you also got to stop with the perfectionist in your brain. What you did that you don't like that particular time, somebody else could look at and say, that is brilliant. As a creative person, just the rush, the peace of creating, obviously you're always drawn to any craft that gives you that. What specifically, how did you land at watercolors? Was there someone or a piece that you saw? I guess with watercolors, what I liked about them is they're forgiving, and they're kind of transparent. So if you make a mistake, you can kind of go over it. And I think the fact that I could paint something and you could recognize what it really was, well, who wouldn't want to do that, right?

Yeah, absolutely. So one of the questions we're asking all of our artists that we're having on this series is how they use their craft, the process of making their art, to invite the Lord into their space and it be a worshipful experience. What is your, especially your morning routine, how do you use your art as part of your devotions, as part of your morning prayer? Well, what I started to do in the last year is to write scripture. And I've read about this before where people write scripture, and then it's become more popular to actually journal in scripture.

And I guess I've seen a lot of that and I've really enjoyed looking at it. And then recently the Wounds Department came up with a scripture writing plan, which is awesome. It gives you a scripture a day to write. And so as I was doing the modern calligraphy and as I was doing the watercoloring, they kind of started to combine for me like a journal, like a journaling. And so I started to do that in the morning. And then I started using fountain pens.

And the fountain pens are so fun to write with because they really slow you down. And when you have to slow down and write scripture at the same time, and I'm listening to Christian music at the same time, it kind of takes you into a different place. It really, you are still, you're being still and knowing that He is God.

Let's see if I could probably write something. Let's see what the scripture is for the next day that I'm going to do one. For He Himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one, and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility.

By setting aside in His flesh the law with its commands and regulations, His purpose was to create in Himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace. I have heard of people actually writing the entire Bible. Could you imagine doing that? But even just writing a psalm, or writing the book of Psalms, or writing the Proverbs, could you imagine what that would be like? I mean, that is something I aspire to at some point.

We'll start small and work our way up. Can you think of any big things or big moments that the Lord has taught you while you're in that creative space? Have you had any revelations?

I think probably the one revelation is just to stop and take time and to breathe and to really listen to what He's got to say in that particular scripture verse and the ones that you were led to read beyond that because one thing leads to another. So I think that just in general it puts you in a really good place to spend time with God. How do you hope your art, your craft impacts the world? I will be very, very happy if it impacts my little world, my little community.

I think it's a lot to ask to change the world. So just, I think, taking the time to paint somebody a card or a birthday card or a thank you card or do a bookmark, I think for someone to know that you took the time to do that makes them happy. I know it makes me happy if somebody makes me, because I've got some art friends that make me things every now and again. You couldn't buy me something that would be worth more than somebody painting me something or writing something.

So I will be happy if it impacts the people that are around me. But I also think it's valid to say that sometimes God gives you a gift just for you. I mean, me as a musician, I mean, sometimes me just sitting in a room by myself and playing guitar and just getting lost, I haven't hit record, no one else is going to hear what's going on except me and the Lord and that's it. And sometimes that gift can just be between you and Him and there's nothing wrong with it. And that's exactly what happens to me in the morning. It's just on my own, enjoying that peaceful time that you usually don't get the rest of the day. And that's pretty cool that you get that from your guitar.

It's really nice. Anybody can draw and anybody can paint. And as I'd mentioned earlier, it's knowing some of the tips and tricks that painters have and that watercolors have or that calligraphers have. Everybody can draw and everybody can paint. And in fact, they will be surprised, even if they don't do as well as they think they should, the act of creating and the act of drawing or sketching or painting can be so meaningful to you. I would just, if anybody is thinking about it, jump in full, just jump right in and try it. Because I think that everybody can do it and they just don't know that they can do it.

They've never been brought up to think that they can do it. And I think it's pretty sad that they're missing just a wonderful thing if they don't try. And there is something too, I think all of the arts, there's a side to, if you find that you really have a passion for it and you want to get, quote, better at it, because there's certainly a reward that comes with that, there's work that goes into it. There's studying like you're doing on YouTube. There's things that you're learning scales, whatever it is, whatever your art may be, that it takes some work.

It's not always just fun and it can be and that's fine. But if you're like, I'm not that great of a drawer, well, put some time into it. Right.

Exactly. Now, I was surprised how much work was in practicing for modern calligraphy. But you have to put the work in. And I used to do that in the mornings. Every morning I would do another piece of modern calligraphy. And what I found in the end up was I actually became a good hand writer. It surprised me. People actually can read my writing now.

Put some water. For me, I want to influence other people to learn something new, some kind of art or craft that they didn't know they could do. And for me, watercolor is one of the easiest things to learn.

And so every chance I get, I put together a little set of watercolors, a little paintbrush, a little sample of papers, and I give it to somebody that either hasn't tried it or they're artistic but they only try acrylics or oils and say, give it a try. Flo, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you for sharing your art.

If you'll let us, of course, too, we'll share some pictures on Salvation Army Soundcast Facebook and Instagram. And if you are following us and on YouTube as well, you will have already seen some of her art as we've gone along in this conversation. But, Flo, thank you so much. Thank you so much for having me.

Yes, yes. God bless you. Thank you. God bless you, too.

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