Meet Noni

The Sentinel’s Suzanne Smedley interviews Australian artist Noni Clarke.
Reprinted from the April 25, 2005, issue of the CS Sentinel.

She’s an award-winning artist and a champion swing dancer — and a spiritually-minded young woman who always makes sure to put God first.

Australian artist Noni Clarke may not yet be a name people recognize outside of Victoria, her home state. But she’s well worth getting to know. This multitalented 20-year-old (who is also a double bass player and professional swing dancer) finds that no matter what she’s doing, putting God first has resulted in the greatest rewards. Christian Science Sentinel staff editor Suzanne Smedley recently spoke with Noni, who was in Melbourne, where she lives and works.

Noni, what does it mean to you to be “an artist”?

At university they challenge you to express your personal feelings through art. But to me, being an artist is about letting God’s work come through me. I like to think that I’m God’s song and that He’s expressing His music through me.

When did you know you had artistic talent?

I’ve been drawing since I was two, and I knew toward the end of high school that I wanted to study art. During a studio arts class my senior year, I began to paint, but I had no idea that I’d be good at it. I was just sort of making it up as I went along.

My first painting was of Ken Jacobs, a man from my church. It was pretty scary to ask him to let me paint him. I had to get my mom to help me! He came to my school because I had a studio set up there. It was great because he had so much character. I took photos of him just the way he turned up: he had a bum bag [fanny pack] around his waist, his pants were creased, one collar was up on his shirt, and he wore an army hat. That’s what I recreated in my painting.

I did a series of three portraits of Ken: a view of him seated, a view from the side, and a view of him standing. And I ended up winning the state competition with the second painting.

How did that come about?

It began when a relationship I was in at the time really made me turn to God wholeheartedly. My boyfriend, who was also my swing dance partner, and I broke up. I had always put God first in our relationship, so I turned to God and decided to let Him figure out what I should do.

Later, my ex-boyfriend won a dance competition with his new partner and then went to New York. And I didn’t even have a dance partner. It seemed so unfair, and I felt so much self-pity. But I felt I could still trust God, although it didn’t seem like I was getting an immediate reward for doing that.

God didn’t create me and then leave me to figure everything out.

I also prayed with a passage from Science and Health that says, “To those leaning on the sustaining infinite, to-day is big with blessings.” What a promise! I remember questioning the word lean. What did it mean in this case? I pictured someone with a limp leaning on a walking stick, but that didn’t seem too inspiring.

Then someone suggested to me that it was like a person standing in a doorway with both arms out. You can’t lean on both sides at the same time. In other words, you can’t lean on both matter and Spirit (God) at the same time. So whatever I was doing during that year—dancing, painting, etc.—I listened to God and followed the inspired ideas that came to me.

Another helpful idea from Science and Health was “Desire is prayer; and no loss can occur from trusting God with our desires, that they may be moulded and exalted before they take form in words and in deeds.”

I put my desires in God’s hands.

What were your desires?

I had lots of desires. For example: to do well in school, to do well in dancing, and to find a new dance partner. And I decided to put these desires in God’s hands.

I think the main turnaround was when I was thinking about being in the now. We talked a lot in Sunday School about not having to wait for something good. That we’re God’s spiritual creation and reflect Him, and He has everything. So now we are satisfied, and supplied with everything we need.

I think that changed my view on everything, and all these wonderful things started happening to me throughout the year. I became much more productive and joyous.

How did the year become more productive for you after this prayer?

In our art department you had to decide on a theme for some major works of art that you had to complete by the end of the year. I chose the topic “beauty.” Not physical beauty, but the beauty of character. I’d been praying all this time, and it was about halfway through the school year that it came to me to ask Ken to sit for a portrait. And within a few months I had completed three major paintings, and a few other ones, as well.

What about the state competition?

One day, at the end of the year, my teacher gave us all an entry form for Top Arts VCE (Victorian Certificate of Education) 2002, an annual statewide competition for senior high-school students in Victoria. I decided to enter, along with a lot of my friends, and I chose to send in my second portrait of Ken.

There were more than 3,000 entries and I was short-listed to the top 90 or so, who were selected to exhibit their work in the National Gallery of Victoria. The exhibit lasted for about three months and all the people who came had the opportunity to vote for their favorite work of art. I ended up winning the “People’s Choice Award,” which was the one award that went to the winner. It was totally amazing.

I prayed to know God expresses himself through everyone.

How did your classmates take your success?

The hard thing was when I started painting in my class senior year. Other people would compare themselves to me and say, “My work isn’t good enough” or jokingly, “I hate you, you’re too good.” So I prayed about it, knowing that God speaks to everyone and expresses His originality through everyone. And I realized that God doesn’t favor one person over another.

At the end of the school year we had a school exhibition and it was really amazing. Everyone’s work was quite different. Not everyone was into painting so they did other things. It was really cool. And rather than creating a division in the class, we encouraged each other and lifted each other up. It turned out to be one of the best classes. It was great to have a supportive atmosphere.

Why do you think the atmosphere was more supportive than competitive?

I had been praying about this class every step of the way. I saw that we all have our own connection to God. And I had to accept that the laws and principles I was praying about for myself—that God was in control of my life, and we could leave our desires in His hands—applied to everyone in the class and around the world.

When you have a blank canvas it seems hard to dream up an idea, and for it to be good . . . even to just be inspired to paint seems hard. But if you’re quiet and you listen to the “still, small voice” of God, there’s a little idea in there, and it unfolds and it turns out to be quite great. There is one God—one Spirit and one Mind—but this creative Spirit is expressed in individual ways.

Seek God first, and everything will be “added unto you.”

If you picture a wheel, and you’re on a spoke traveling toward the center—God—then you naturally get closer to the other “spokes.” I think that’s what happened in class. I love the idea that if you seek God first, everything will be “added unto you.”

It must have been a thrill not only to have your portrait exhibited at the National Gallery, but to be awarded the People’s Choice Award by the people of Victoria.

All this publicity led to people seeing my work, and I got commissioned a lot. I was on the TV, in the newspapers, and I was asked to give talks to students, to the public, and to groups in the National Gallery. That was pretty cool. It was the fruition of all my prayer.

But once my work was exhibited, I felt it was important to make sure I kept thanking God the whole way and not claiming the glory as my own. I had put everything in God’s hands at the start, and it would have been quite easy to get swept up in the praise and get cocky. But when you remember that inspiration always comes from God, you can be quite humble in receiving compliments, and in speaking about your work.

What effect would you like your paintings to have?

I want my artwork to be something that uplifts people. Because I’m doing realism,
I could just be copying something that looks the same as the original. But I have
a different motive. My motive is to capture the spiritual expression of someone.
Most of my life experiences and lessons have been from interacting with other people,
and that’s why I’m so interested in people as my subject in painting. I think that
everyone has something that God is expressing through them. And if I can capture
that, it’s really amazing.

Have you found a new dance partner?

I have, and it is the best. I could not have planned it better. My new partner and I have become best friends, and we are currently the Australian swing dance champions.

I want to go down a spiritual avenue.

What are your plans for the future?

I think maybe next year I’d like to go to a visual arts school, but I’m just keeping it open. Right now I’m preparing for my first solo art exhibition. And I’d like to take Christian Science class instruction. I want to go down a spiritual avenue.

Is prayer still part of your day?

Yes, definitely. It’s a natural thing for me. It can be just one small inspiration or having the consciousness of God. It doesn’t have to be work. At one point I found I really wanted to get into Christian Science but it felt like school homework. I needed to find a more uplifting and joyful way to look at it. So I began to study the Weekly Bible Lesson and read the Christian Science periodicals, and made sure I tried to put into practice everything I read. I went to Sunday School until I turned 20 last year, and now I’m teaching Sunday School, which is really fun.

What has Christian Science brought to your life that you want to share with your students?

Well, so much. But I suppose the two main things are security and love. I’ve had some friends, beautiful people, who, when they’re in trouble, don’t have anything in their life that’s solid for them to turn to. They’re a little bit lost.

And I learned that God is always going to be there for me, and so far I’ve always had answers when I turn to God—even if they aren’t always the ones I’ve expected. I think the more you study Christian Science, the more you prove it. Then, it’s kind of like a cycle—the more you can rely on it because you understand it more.

Just knowing that God is always there, and that you don’t need to turn to other people for answers, is so helpful. You always have your connection and communication with Him.

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