Welcome to the Slow Read
Thank you for subscribing to The Loving Look and being curious about the “slow read” of Redeeming Vision: A Christian Guide to Looking at and Learning from Art. I'm so glad you're here.
As I was imagining this book, I found myself in a bit of a bind. As a college professor, I had the pace of a classroom in mind. But, I also wanted to write a field guide for everyday viewers. I wanted a book for the parents of my students, for my church aunties, for my sisters-in-law who gamely followed along at art museums, for my friends who sometimes feel like I'm speaking a different language...and you all don't typically work on a semester schedule. So this is my invitation to join me in a slow read, making steady progress through a book that needs to be absorbed and applied.
Here's the proposed schedule:
Week 1 // Introduction
Week 2 // The Toolbox
Week 3 // The Archive
Week 4 // The Frame
Week 5 // Confessing our Idols
Week 6 // Abstract Art
Week 7 // Representational Art
Week 8 // Portraiture
Week 9 // Landscape
Week 10 // Art of the Everyday
Week 11 // Art of History
Week 12 // Redeeming Vision
There’s a post for each week's chapter that provides some background information along with a few links or questions to be considering as you read. If you’re on Instagram (@elissabrodt) you can look at my Highlights for some bonus content like quizzes or connections to other artists from the first slow read.
Since I'm a professor, may I also give you some tips for active reading? Make sure you actually look at the images! My father-in-law put numbered post-it notes in his book so that he can easily find all the images in the book. If you don't want to do that, you might want to have the book's website pulled up to see digital images whenever you need them.
Second, annotate as you go. Underline things, put an asterisk next to something you want to remember, or put a question mark next to something that prompts a pause. If you read something that rubs you the wrong way or makes you pause, stop and ask yourself why.
Again, thank you for joining me here. I'm so excited to have you.
