Artist adds to the beauty
“Our creation is only thinking God’s thoughts after Him”
Kimberley Hodgkin
Public relations intern
Avondale College of Higher Education
Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia
Joanna Darby wants to add to the beauty despite feeling self-conscious about calling herself an artist—and once thinking of a career in the arts as “selfish.” “As I study the nature of beauty and the real purpose of beauty, I feel impelled,” she says. “God affirms my calling by placing incredible opportunities in front of me. How can I ignore this?”
Her first solo exhibition demonstrated the effectiveness of art as a communication medium. “I couldn’t believe how easily conversation with strangers turned to spiritual matters.”
Galleries in Canberra, Newcastle, Port Macquarie and Sydney have exhibited Joanna’s work—a common theme is the rhythms and patterns of life. Parliament House in Canberra has, too. Her work also appears in collections in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
Adding to Joanna’s list of achievements (not that she would keep one): receiving the Gabe Reynaud Award at the inaugural Manifest Creative Arts Festival. The citation describes how her artistic statements as an artist and speaker “overflow with a passion for communicating the love of Christ, delivered with humility and compassion. . . . She exemplifies the power of combining art and ministry.”
Joanna, an alumna of Avondale College of Higher Education who graduated with a Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Teaching in 2006, says the arts teach us “that any of our creation is only thinking God’s thoughts after Him.” Her advice to others: “We are but a tool in God’s hands. Our creativity is on loan from Him.”