ISSUE No. 72 | August 2026
WELCOME
If you’re new to CULTIVARE we welcome you! CULTIVARE is a monthly field guide for life and faith, brought to you by TEND. Each month we explore a specific “field” – a topic or theme through which we seek to cultivate contemplation, engagement, and deeper understanding. Our guiding questions are:
What are you cultivating in your life?
What fruit do you want your life to bear?
Each issue of CULTIVARE is structured into three parts:
Cultivate: Examines a specific “Field” or facet of life and offers questions to unearth and challenge our held perspective; along with concise kernels of truth which we call “Seeds.”
Irrigate: Explores the ways we nurture our understanding, which varies from individual to individual. We offer six means of irrigation: Art, Poetry, Profile, Film, Essay, and Books.
Germinate: Encourages practical ways to engage in becoming more fruitful and free in our lives.
Our name, CULTIVARE, in Spanish means “I will cultivate.” We hope each issue of our field guide will encourage you to do just that – cultivate new thoughts, actions, faith, hope, and fruitful living. We invite you to dig in and DIG DEEP!
FIELD
For we are partners working together for God, and you are God's field.
(I Corinthians 3:9)
Our theme this month is CREATIVITY. Creativity begins with our Creator. It is central to who God is and to who He desires to be in our lives. From the opening pages of Genesis to the final vision in Revelation, Scripture tells the story of God’s ongoing creativity. And throughout that story, God invites us to play a part—to become co-creators with Him in the work of bringing beauty, goodness, healing, and new life into the world.
The American Psychological Association (APA) defines creativity as “the ability to produce or develop original work, theories, techniques, or thoughts. A creative person typically demonstrates originality, imagination, and expressiveness." But creativity is about more than producing something new. It is also about seeing possibilities where others may not see them, imagining what could be, and having the courage to bring that vision to life.
Do you consider yourself a creative person? Why or why not? Who do you admire for their gifts? And what does “creativity” mean to you?
I have always admired creative people. In many ways, I see them as courageous. Creativity requires us to step into the unknown and envision something that did not exist before—whether it is an empty canvas, a blank page, an open room, or simply a new possibility. Creativity asks us to trust our imagination and to take the first step toward bringing something new into being. As people formed in the image of our Creator, all of us can make, fashion, form, build, craft, conceive, and originate. God welcomes us to join Him as co-creators in His good and glorious work in the world.
In this issue, we are delighted to profile Jason Pearson, whom we consider one of the most creative people we have ever met. Jason is the designer behind both the Cultivare and TEND websites, and we are continually blessed by the extraordinary inspiration that flows through this cherished brother and his work. We also spotlight the Creative Growth Community in Oakland, California—the first independent art center dedicated to advancing the careers of artists with developmental, mental, or physical disabilities. Their work offers a powerful testimony to the talents and possibilities within every person. And we are pleased to feature Dominic Bronico’s excellent essay, “Creativity as Spiritual Practice,” which invites us to consider creativity not simply as an ability or talent, but as a way of deepening our relationship with God and sharing in His work.
Throughout Scripture, our Creator continually calls faithful people to join Him in making all things new. Perhaps God is speaking to you even now. In Revelation 21:5 (MSG), God declares, I am making everything new. What might God be inviting you to create? Where might He be calling you to step into the unknown, imagine what could be, and participate in His creative work?
Perhaps the request is already before you. Perhaps you are more innovative than you realize. And perhaps God is inviting you to become His co-creator in the beautiful, good, and glorious work He is doing in the world. (DG)
***
So God created humans in his image, in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:27) (NRS)
The LORD spoke to Moses, “See, I have called by name Bezalel son of Uri son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with a divine spirit, with ability, intelligence, and knowledge, and every kind of skill, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, to work in every kind of craft. (Exodus 31:1-5) (NRS)
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10) (KJV)
Who do you think Paul is, anyway? Or Apollos, for that matter? Servants, both of us—servants who waited on you as you gradually learned to entrust your lives to our mutual Master. We each carried out our servant assignment. I planted the seed, Apollos watered the plants, but God made you grow. It’s not the one who plants or the one who waters who is at the center of this process but God, who makes things grow. Planting and watering are menial servant jobs at minimum wages. What makes them worth doing is the God we are serving. You happen to be God’s field in which we are working. (1 Corinthians 3:5-9 MSG)
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TEND CAN HELP! If you would like to take tangible steps working toward a new chapter in your life TEND can help. Explore our offerings by clicking here:
SEEDS
A handful of quotes to contemplate and cultivate into your life
But unless we are creators we are not fully alive. (Madeleine L’Engle)
Divine creativity has never involved a production assembly line. The results of God’s creative acts are never less than original and truly unique works of art. You and I are no exception. (David Brenner)
Curiosity about life in all of its aspects, I think, is still the secret of great creative people.
(Leo Burnett)
Creativity requires faith. Faith requires that we relinquish control. (Julia Cameron)
Creativity doesn’t wait for that perfect moment. It fashions its own perfect moments out of ordinary ones. (Bruce Garragrandt)
Creativity takes courage. (Henri Matisse)
To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong. (Joseph Chilton Pearce)
You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have. (Maya Angelou)
Creativity is that marvelous capacity to grasp mutually distinct realities and draw a spark from their juxtaposition. (Max Ernst)
ART
Artists of the Month
Creative Growth Community
This month, we spotlight the extraordinary work of Creative Growth Art Center in Oakland, California. Founded in 1973, Creative Growth is an internationally recognized nonprofit and the world’s first independent art center dedicated to advancing the careers of artists with developmental, mental, and physical disabilities.
Today, Creative Growth supports 140 artists, many of whom have cultivated decades-long studio practices and achieved international recognition. Their work has been exhibited in museums and galleries and is held in public collections around the world, reflecting the profound impact and enduring significance of their artistic contributions.
We encourage you to check out the following websites:
CBS Sunday Morning report on the Creative Growth Community: View Now
The Creative Growth Community website: View Now
POETRY
I Dwell in Possibility
By Emily Dickinson
I dwell in Possibility -
A fairer House than Prose -
More numerous of Windows -
Superior - for Doors -
Of Chambers as the Cedars -
Impregnable of eye -
And for an everlasting Roof
The Gambrels of the Sky -
Of Visitors - the fairest -
For Occupation - This -
The spreading wide my narrow Hands
To gather Paradise –
PROFILE
Jason Pearson
By Brian Bakke
Jason Pearson first discovered his creative gifts at the age of five. When his parents needed to meet in restaurants, they would seat their young son at a nearby table rather than hire a babysitter. With unlimited Coke and a supply of paper, Jason would happily draw for hours. As he jokes, “I got paid to babysit himself.”
His imagination was ignited even further in 1977 when Star Wars arrived in theaters: “The imagination, characters, the storytelling, and the music touched me in a powerful way.” Inspired by the film’s creativity and storytelling, Jason attended art school, focusing on design and video. There he learned that art has rules—but that understanding those rules gives an artist the freedom to break them.
During college, his school acquired its first graphic computer. Jason immediately recognized that technology would play a major role in the artistic revolution. He spent countless nights teaching himself how to use the computer. By his sophomore year, he was hired to head the computer department and was paid to teach graphic design on computers to the faculty.
After graduate school, Jason moved to New York City, where his combination of creativity and emerging technological expertise opened unexpected doors. In 1995, when George Lucas released Star Wars: Episode I, Jason designed the website for Hasbro’s Star Wars toys. Because the technology was still developing, he faxed individual pages of the website to Lucas for approval.
An uncle working in the music business also connected Jason with a new company looking to convert music into digital formats and expand its audience. Jason quickly became known as the “early guy”—one of the few people who understood Photoshop and emerging digital design. In the fast-paced world of New York advertising and music, opportunities often came simply from being ready when someone called.
One project became a defining crash course in design. His boss once handed him a massive assignment with a 24-hour deadline. Jason called a gifted film-separation artist, and the two worked through the night to complete the project. “This was my crash course in design,” he recalls.
Jason soon found himself competing with established artists. While one designer quoted $70,000 for an album cover, Jason offered to do the work for $7,000. His willingness to embrace new technology disrupted the traditional design world, leading to projects with numerous musicians and artists.
Jason and several friends later created a magazine distributed on CD-ROM. The project attracted international attention and led to an invitation to London, where a potential investor offered $6 million and office space in New York. The team was challenged to produce the first issue in just eight weeks—and they figured out how to do it.
Eventually, however, Jason became increasingly uncomfortable with the direction of the business. As the investor began purchasing strip clubs, Jason felt God prompting him to leave. “Your time here is done. You need to resign.”
That decision led Jason into a new chapter. With his father, he began meeting with nonprofit leaders and discovered that none of their organizations could accept online donations. Jason responded by building online donation technology. Two companies eventually acquired Online Giving, but within six months they had spent all the available cash. Jason came away with a lasting lesson about the venture-capital world: when financial returns become the highest priority, people become secondary.
Another unexpected opportunity arrived when a friend invited Jason to see a rough cut of a new Mel Gibson film. Encouraged to create artwork for the movie, Jason downloaded a photograph of Jim Caviezel and used Photoshop to develop several images. Gibson loved the work and asked Jason to create the film’s graphics. Jason had never worked in Hollywood or designed a movie poster—but he said yes. Once again, his willingness to step into the unknown opened a new door.
Jason has since been recognized by New York Magazine as a Digital Visionary, and his work is included in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian and the Victoria and Albert Museum.
His creative journey has also become deeply connected to his faith. After the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange acquired and renovated the former Crystal Cathedral campus in Garden Grove, California, the bishop invited Jason to create a permanent museum there. Jason and his team raised $6 million, and in November of 2025 they opened an immersive museum focused on the Shroud of Turin.
Today, Jason continues to combine creativity, technology, storytelling, and faith through his company, Percolate at the Film Hub. He is also developing a film about the remarkable friendship between Antonin Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Jason describes his calling simply: “My DNA is an intuitive creativity.” He encourages others to use their gifts not merely to build a portfolio, but “to make an impact in the life of somebody and maybe generations of a family.”
FINAL NOTE: At Cultivare, we are grateful to call Jason one of our Teammates. He has designed both the Cultivare and TEND websites, bringing his remarkable creativity and vision to our work. We give God great thanks for Jason and believe he is one of the most creative people we have ever had the privilege to know.
FILM
Each month we recommend films focused on our theme
Feature
Loving Vincent
(2017)
Loving Vincent is the world’s first fully painted feature film—painted in the style of Vincent Van Gogh. The movie tells the story of the last years of Vincent van Gogh’s life. Loving Vincent was a 2018 Academy Award nominee for “Best Animated Feature Film.” It spotlights a creative genius through a wonderfully creative filmmaking way. Available on various streaming sites.
Watch the trailer here: View Now
Documentary
Landfill Harmonic
(2015)
The city of Asunción, Paraguay has a landfill in a suburb called Cateura, where residents’ livelihoods depend on the recyclable items they find by digging through the trash heap. At the local school, music teacher Favio Chavez struggled to find instruments for all the kids who wanted to learn. He partnered with one of the garbage pickers, a man named Cola, to make musical instruments out of the broken furniture and metal oil cans Cola gathered. Landfill Harmonic is an inspiring documentary about the lives of teenage music students as they learn to play classical music on violins, violas, cellos, and more, all made from items in the Cateura landfill. “The Recycled Orchestra of Cateura” plays creative works by Beethoven and Mozart, but the real creativity is in the ingenuity of the entire community. The film is available to watch for free on TUBI.
Short Films
Behind the Brand
Sir Ken Robinson
(11 minutes)
Sir Ken Robinson is best known for his TED Talk on Creativity. He is one of the brightest minds in the world. He is an advocate for education reform and the arts. Creativity is not just for actors, artists and dancers. Engineers, computer scientists and even farmers can have creative genius. His definition of creativity is the process of having original ideas that have value. When we’re passionate about what we do and we’re also good at it, it usually has value to us and others. Sir Ken talks about how to get into our element, in other words, the place where we can be our very best.
Ted Talk
How to Build Your Creative Confidence
David Kelley
(12 minutes)
Is your school or workplace divided between the “creatives” versus the practical people? Yet surely, David Kelley suggests, creativity is not the domain of only a chosen few. Telling stories from his legendary design career and his own life, he offers ways to build the confidence to create.
ESSAY
Creativity as a Spiritual Practice
By Dominic Bronico
Our essay this month is about how the creative process—no matter its results—invites us to spiritual growth. Author Dominic Bronico recounts reading Exodus and its descriptions of the tabernacle. He didn’t understand the purpose of these passages until he saw them as descriptions of a creative process instead of a finished work of art. His article explains how creativity is often “tedious, intricate, and laborious,” but an opportunity for spiritual growth. Attempting to make anything from nothing requires us to slow down, accept frustration, and see beyond mundane tasks.
In this section, we feature photos of Ai Weiwei’s Water Lilies #4, a rendition of Monet’s Water Lilies, but made entirely from Lego 1x1 plate pieces. The piece measures 40 feet long and is featured above, while a detail is below.
BOOKS
Each month we recommend a book (or two) focused on our theme
NON-FICTION
The Mind of the Maker
by Dorothy Day
This classic, with a new introduction by Madeleine L’Engle, is by turns an entrancing meditation on language; a piercing commentary on the nature of art and why so much of what we read, hear, and see falls short; and a brilliant examination of the fundamental tenets of Christianity. The Mind of the Maker will be relished by those already in love with Dorothy L. Sayers and those who have not yet met her. A mystery writer, a witty and perceptive theologian, culture critic, and playwright, Dorothy Sayers sheds new, unexpected light on a specific set of statements made in the Christian creeds. She examines anew such ideas as the image of God, the Trinity, free will, and evil, and in these pages a wholly revitalized understanding of them emerges. The author finds the key in the parallels between God’s creation and the human creative process. She continually refers to each in a way that illuminates both.
View Now
FICTION
The Gift of Asher Lev
By Chaim Potok
In his powerful My Name is Asher Lev, author Chaim Potok gave the world an unforgettable character and a timeless story that The New York Times Book Review hailed as “little short of a work of genius.” The Chicago Sun-Times declared it “a story that had to be told.” Now, Chaim Potok’s beloved character returns to learn, to teach, to dream, in The Gift of Asher Lev.
Twenty years have passed. Asher Lev is a world-renowned artist living with his young family in France. Still, he is unsure of his artistic direction. Success has not brought ease to his heart. Then Asher’s beloved uncle dies suddenly, and Asher and his family rush back to Brooklyn—and into a world that Asher thought he had left behind forever.
It is a journey of confrontation and discovery as Asher purges his past in search of new inspiration for his art and begins to understand the true meaning of sacrifice and the painful joy in sharing the most precious gift of all.
CHILDREN’S
Beautiful Oops!
by Barney Salzburg
Beautiful Oops! from Workman Publishing says “Hooray for mistakes!” This interactive book demonstrates how every mistake is an opportunity to make something beautiful. Unique in every respect, this book is full of pop-ups, lift-the-flaps, tears, holes, overlays, bends, smudges, and more, each demonstrating how blunders can become wonders. Celebrate all life’s Beautiful Oops! and teach kids that it’s perfectly fine, and sometimes fortuitous, to make a mistake. Hardcover, 28 pages.
DIG DEEPER
Practical suggestions to help you go deeper into our theme
1. QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION
Devote some time and thought to these reflective questions on our theme:
a. What is creativity to you?
b. Do you consider yourself creative? Why or why not?
c. What creative gifts do you believe God gave you?
d. How are you using these gifts?
e. How has creativity factored into your spiritual formation (if at all)?
f. What kind of impact do you hope to achieve through your creative efforts?
g. What do you do (or could you do) to enhance your creativity?
h. What creative person do you most admire and why?
2. ADOBE’S “CREATIVE TYPE” QUIZ
This fun questionnaire takes about 5 minutes and sorts you into one of eight creative types. It was first launched in 2018 but has recently updated the eight types to include the following: the Strategist, the Regenerator, the Luminary, the Catalyst, the Gardener, the Guide, the Alchemist, and the Architect. The whole quiz is well-designed with colorful graphics. For each type, the site gives strengths, challenges, and complementing types. You don’t have to take the quiz to learn about them; Adobe provides a breakdown of the types here: View Now
3. IT’S TIME TO RECLAIM RECEATIVITY
This article by Chris Aho proposes that Christians embrace a broad view of creativity and embrace it as something God wants us to engage with. The author recalls how he used to avoid the idea of pastoral leadership as a creative endeavor: “I did not want to overstep my limits by claiming to do something that was God’s to do. I stopped using the word ‘creativity.’ God brings new things to life; we design, rearrange and redesign as faithfully as possible. I leaned into the concepts and practices of design thinking and embraced the simple mantra ‘Only God creates; we design.’” He later realized how this kind of thinking can make us miss the creative work God has for us to do. He goes on to explain how we can fully participate in this aspect of God's image. Read the article here: View Now
4. VAN GOGH by PAPER_PEPPER
Paper_Pepper is a Korean papercraft artist and online creator. Using stop-motion filming and paper, the artist transforms paper doll forms of people (sometimes famous people, like Vincent Van Gogh, Frida Kahlo, or soccer player Erling Haaland). We first see a person who needs care, healing, or even spa treatment and watch Paper_Pepper “care” and “heal,” all with paper. In this video, Vincent Van Gogh is tended to: View Now
5. PRAYER FOR CREATIVITY
Gracious Creator,
We pray for creativity in our lives. Help us to think outside the box and to find new and innovative solutions to problems. May our creativity bring joy and inspiration to ourselves and to others. Let us use our creative talents for good.
Thank you for the gift of creativity. Help us to nurture and develop it in all areas of our lives. Guide us to use our creativity to bring about positive change in the world, addressing challenges with fresh perspectives. Help us to find inspiration in your creation, drawing on the beauty and diversity of the world around us. May our creative efforts be expressions of our unique gifts and talents, reflecting your creativity in us.
We pray for those who feel stuck or uninspired. Help them to tap into their creative potential and to find new sources of inspiration. Thank you for the joy and fulfillment that come from creative expression. Help us to embrace and celebrate our creativity every day. AMEN
ROOTED
But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence is in him.
They will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit.
(Jeremiah 17:7-8 NIV)
POLLINATE
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(a 501c3 ministry) for CULTIVARE are tax-deductible.
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FIELD NOTES
Images used in order of appearance:
1. FIELD: Vlada Karpovich, 2021. https://www.pexels.com/photo/girl-drawing-a-rainbow-7025510/
2. SEEDS: Watts Tower, Los Angeles. https://savingplaces.org/stories/how-conservators-stabilized-los-angeles-monumental-watts-towers
3. ART: Creative Growth Art Center, Oakland, California.
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/20/magazine/a-training-ground-for-untrained-artists.html
4. POETRY: Alex Katz, Tulips 4, 2014. Museum of Modern Art, NY.
5. PROFILE: Jason Pearson.
https://filmfreeway.com/SparesSecondChanceStoriesofFrozenEmbryos
6. FILM: Actor Robert Gulaczyk portraying Vincent Van Gogh in Loving Vincent. Still photo of one of 65,000 oil paintings made for the animated film.
7. ESSAY: Ai Weiwei, Water Lilies #4 (2023). Made of over 500,000 Legos. Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Detail of Ai Weiwei, Water Lilies #1.
8. BOOKS: New Zealand Abalone (Pāua) Shells. https://lumea.co/products/shells/whole-shell/new-zealand-abalone-paua
9. DIG DEEPER: Pastry chef Caitlin Freeman’s Mondrian cake. Photo by Clay MacLachlan/Modern Art Desserts: Recipes for Cakes, Cookies, Confections, and Frozen Treats Based on Iconic Works of Art. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/what-modern-art-looks-like-as-yummy-dessert-26427077/
10. ROOTED: Louis Comfort Tiffany, New York, Come Unto Me, 1924. Lyman Allyn Art Museum, New London, CT.
TEAM CULTIVARE: Duane Grobman (Editor), Greg Ehlert, Bonnie Fearer, Lisa Hertzog, Shinook Kang, Elizabeth Khorey, Michelle Lum, Olivia Mather, Andrew Massey, Rita McIntosh, Jason Pearson (Design: Pearpod.com)
WE'RE LISTENING:
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and suggestions for future issues.
Email us at: info@tendwell.org
