Trio feels blessed to share studio, painting passion

WASILLA — When Victoria Peterson talks about how she met her Doodles art studio partners earlier this year and formed an instant spiritual bond with them, it’s hard not to get chills.

You have to go back to when she first discovered what is known as “prophetic art,” or art inspired by hearing the word of God or feeling God’s spirit through music.

“For about a year while I was worshipping at the Church on the Rock, I kept seeing myself painting on stage and I didn’t understand it because, while I had done a lot of other art in my life, I had never painted before and I’d never seen anyone painting during a service,” the mother of two said Thursday. “Finally, I saw an artist painting during a church service and I started doing it from the balcony at Wasilla Assembly of God where no one could see me. I was too scared to go up front.”

By then, her secret gift was out and the pastor asked her and another woman to paint on stage while he conducted worship. They had their backs to the congregation so everyone could see what they were creating.

“I didn’t have a plan,” said Peterson, 32. “I was really scared at first. But I just started with one stroke and ended up painting this swirling wave scene with a swirling sky and light shining through. By the end, I realized I was made to do that kind of art because people were crying, they were so touched by it.”

When she ended up praying with a woman who had been abused and found solace through the image she had created, she knew she had a calling.

“God had spoken to her heart through my painting,” the Wasilla High graduate said. “It was incredible. I was definitely addicted after that.”

That was just the beginning of her artistic awakening.

After attending a prophetic art retreat in Georgia, she began reaching out to the local art world, looking for others doing spiritually inspired art. That’s when she stumbled onto a photo of Tina Fisher and Jamie Bottoms working on a painting together.

“So I found Tina and she invited me to worship at Northgate, and by chance Jamie came and asked if she could sit by me,” Peterson said, adding she didn’t really believe it was mere chance at all. “It was definitely devine! Our dreams suddenly collided and we became an instant team.”

It was Fisher and Bottoms who gave Peterson the confidence to pursue her dream of opening her own art studio where she could not only display her own art and that of others, but help all ages find their own inner artists.

And that’s exactly what the three of them are doing. While Doodles, in the Crossroads Center at Bogard and Seldon roads, is owned by Peterson, Fisher and Bottoms assist with private art classes and Fisher, a certified art teacher, will help teach art to home-schooled students there this fall.

Having opened its doors at 3030 N. Lazy Eight Court only a couple of months ago, it’s still a work in progress on the outside, but the inside is already filled with Peterson’s art, the works of guest artists and student creations.

The three already have held group classes for adults with Multiple Sclerosis, youth with physical challenges and teens with behavioral issues.

For them, art is more therapeutic than anything else — which is exactly the way Peterson and many other artists look at their craft.

“Art has helped me through some rough times in the past,” Peterson said, pointing to a small charcoal image of a child holding an umbrella, the rain becoming illuminated as it bounces off the top of the umbrella. “That’s why I want to pursue an advanced degree in art therapy. It’s something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time.”

Peterson, Fisher and Bottoms — all accomplished artists — also formed their own prophetic art organization, Art is Worship.

At their artisworship2.blogspot.com website, the women explain the group’s purpose, activities and painting projects through a variety of photographs and links. Those perusing the site can also easily visit each woman’s own artwork and can even purchase some of it, if they like.

All the women said they are grateful for the chance to do what they love and also bring in extra income from it.

They said they welcome invitations to paint at other churches or spiritual events, such as the Awaken Christian women’s conference at the Menard sports center earlier this year.

There they painted a large picture of Christ praying over Mount Susitna. That image is now for sale on smaller canvas frames and as regular, 8 ½-by-11 prints.

“Though some of my work is available to purchase, my goal in creating works of art is not that I should 'make money,' but that I hope to inspire others to be creative in positive ways and to encourage those who have ever felt broken or bound,” said Bottoms, a 30-year-old mother of two who has done a series of private art shows since 2007.

For more information on the Doodles studio, visit doodlesartstudio.blogspot.com, email Peterson at doodlesartstudio@yahoo.com or call Fisher at 355-2428.

“We’re happy to accommodate just about any group that wants to use the studio and we are enrolling home-school art classes, pre-kindergarten to 12th grade, for the fall now,” Peterson said, adding they also are opening the studio for local artists to strut their stuff on Saturdays. “We’d like to recognize some of the more unknown local artists and help give them some exposure.”

Contact K.T. McKee at kate.mckee@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.