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A local goat gives us a look as we leave St. Margaret's chapel in Oxford, England. After a brief round of head-butting he eventually left us in peace.

This was one of the aspects I most enjoyed about Oxford. One moment you were immersed in the hustle and bustle of a world-famous center of academic learning, the next you are trying to avoid being toppled by a excitable goat while visiting a historic chapel.

I am both a religious thinker and an artist. My undergraduate work was in the graphic arts, and my graduate studies were in the philosophy of religion and theology. As the son of a high school art teacher, I was raised in an environment that held as sacred the simple act of slowing down and noticing that which we typically take for granted. My work in theology has taken this insight into its very heart. I've been fascinated with the idea of salvation and the way that forms of prayer which emphasize stillness, silence, and release make room for its experience. These theological sensibilities are almost identical with the generative moment in the creative process. Creativity is, in its essence, the bringing of newness into the world. It's...