What is Like the Hart?

Hello to all my dear listeners, or curious onlookers! I hope you’re soaking up the graces of this time of Advent and are joyfully preparing for Christmas.

I wanted to pin up a kind of manifesto for Like the Hart – a kind of mission statement; a “what am I really doing here?”

The day after I posted the "face reveal" video sharing about my new website and creative ideas, honestly, I went into overdrive trying to churn out music, get my paintings together, work on my website… I felt like I was running without getting anywhere, trying to accomplish anything and everything as soon as possible, but… I realised didn’t really have a clear enough goal.

I totally crashed.

Thankfully, I was able to take a day where I didn’t have to be anywhere, or accomplish anything, and I spent some time in solitude and prayer to “get my head right”, and to talk to Jesus a bit about what He’d like this little apostolate to be. I’m still waiting for Him to fully unfold that to me, but below is a bit of the fruit of my pondering.

As it’s helpful for me to have it down on paper (or on-screen), and maybe helpful for you to know what I stand for, and what to expect from me, I present to you…

The mission of Like the Hart.

I’ll start with the airy-fairy version first, and then waffle about practicalities and substance later:

The goal of Like the Hart is to express the creativity of the human heart through traditional craftsmanship, drawing from sacred tradition of the Catholic Church. The aim is to explore and promote traditional methods of visual art, and to make accessible the musical and mystical heritage that is Gregorian Chant.

Why?

In an age of increasing “AI” instant content generation, I want to return to the roots of human craft, refusing to lose the value in creative work wrought by the meaningful process of human hands, and the human voice.

My goal is not to sit mysteriously in the shadows and be the artist behind a perfectly polished set of works in a gallery, but to draw my audience into this process of creativity, to expose my process from first sketches to final end, in the hope of inspiring them to become more creative in their own lives, and to experience the drawing of the all-loving Creator in their own hearts.

The Waffling:

They say that every soul has a particular drawing to a transcendental: the things that connect us to God; that are identified with Him, that are, in philosophical terms, the “properties of being”. There are three: truth, goodness, and beauty. (Of course, who isn’t drawn to all three?)

But the one I feel most called to promote is beauty. It’s the nature of the contemplative soul to notice with awe and fascination in the world around her: the Eternal Artist’s signature on everything we see. I am awe-struck by the created world of sight, sound, touch, taste, smell, and it reminds me that all of the good things around us have the Creator’s signature on them. All this draws me to Him.

The heart is often associated with love and longing. (So is the “deer” – hart – in Psalm 42). There is no higher longing than for the Divine – it’s what we were made for, and as Saint Augustine said, “our hearts are restless until they rest in [God]”!

When love and longing are at their peak, I think that’s when creativity is born: when the heart “gets creative”. When Saint Maximilian Kolbe and his friars were first captured and brought to a prison camp in Poland, they tried to continue life as though they were still in the friary – gathering for prayer, offering up their work, etc. One of the friars actually carved a statue of Mary out of mud as an attempt to feel like they were home, and to give focus to their prayer time.

I just think that’s a beautiful example of creativity born of longing, and I think it hits at the root of every artistic endeavour – there’s a kind of compulsion – a desire to “create” something that is missing in the world as you know it, something you long for... or at least, a kind of "reaching out" through the veil in Faith, knowing that there is something “beyond”, and searching for Him through the creative arts.

The Practicalities

Now, for a bit about how I plan to implement my little mission:

My YouTube channel is my most active platform right now, and I intend to keep that up. I’m going to continue posting a new chant every Thursday, but with a twist: I’d like to start sharing more about the meaning behind the chants, just in a few minutes: what the lyrics mean, the musical interpretation or “message” I’m trying to convey through my technique, what the different marks mean on the chant notation. These videos are going to be part of a “Behind the Chant” series, and each video will conclude with the familiar format of my Gregorian chant recording with on-screen notation for you to follow along.

Every month, I’ll also aim to publish a longer compilation of collected Gregorian chants on various themes, as it seems people really enjoy to listen to these in the background to add sacred music to their daily lives.

I will be pausing on posting Vespers every Sunday, just for the meantime, dear viewers! It was quite a lot of work getting it together each week, and I’m hoping that the relief of that respectable burden will allow me to channel my energy on these “Behind the Chant” videos instead, along with working on my art. I hope you understand.

My artwork will continue “behind the scenes”, ad-lib for now, with occasional vlog-style documenting of my process. I’ll also be putting some prints for sale on my website soon, and am hoping to be adding to that print collection in the coming months! I'll send you over an email when that actualises.

...I think that's all from me right now! I forgot to mention that all you who are on this email list, and everyone who listens to my music has a place in my daily prayers, and I truly hope you are granted everything Jesus knows you need this Christmas.

God bless you every one. :)