Finding your creative mojo comes from many different places. Some find that certain scenic places can spark imagination; others find inventiveness through music. Some people may find it within, while there are those who have more heavenly enlightenment.

For Nashua landscape artist Stacy-Ann Topjian Searle, whose skill and vision flow through her pen and ink drawings, being a Christian has guided her through art and has given her the ability to help others find their creative side.

A former member of the Nashua Artists Association, Searle said wanted to determine which direction she wanted to go in, citing that a big part of her inspiration is being a Christian.

“I feel that right now I need to be focused on helping others who are Christians,” she said. “Many fight with whether or not they should be creative. Or ask themselves, ‘Is this the right thing to do?’ I want to try to help them get comfortable with accepting that they were created to be creative. That’s the way it should be.”

Searle said she felt she was being pulled in another direction – not necessarily being pulled from exhibiting, but rather the busyness of being part of a big group.

“I wanted to start something more instructive and constructive,” she said. “It’s a little like being a creativity coach.”

For someone who is a Christian and a follower, Searle said there is nothing in a Christian’s beliefs that disallow them to be creative. But she said she’s found that a lot of Christians who are creative, feel that they need to be creating something for the church or for God.

“That’s not necessarily true,” she explained. “You can an artist who is a Christian or you can be a Christian artist who does religious-type art. They are two different things.”

Searle said that some Christians express that they’re not using their gift to serve God or the church, or people in the community.

“I believe we were created to create,” she said. “We were created in the image of God. So, therefore God would take joy in seeing his children create. A lot of people feel guilty, like they should be spending their time on other things – serving or working down at the rescue mission – whatever their outlet may be. They feel guilty taking the time for themselves. I want people to realize that they’re allowed to create. It will be what it is, whether you’re creating new recipes to feed your family or you’re creating quilts or you’re dancing or creating music. It doesn’t matter.”

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Searle added, “I’ve never seen a child not create something.”

At some point in time, people put their creativity aside.

“They say, ‘I need to grow up now,” Searle said. “I just want to help people get that creativity back in their lives. The people who I have been working with, they feel more whole. Like something was missing.”

Torn between faith and art was something that Searle experienced first-hand. She said she was always questioning her art, which is not religious in nature by any stretch. It’s just capturing creation.

“I felt like, ‘Is this what God wants me to do with my time?'” she asked. “I battled that a lot. And so I had to do a lot of searching and I had some good mentors who were very helpful in helping me realize that it’s okay to create and share what I’ve created. I had to get the mindset of I don’t create for God. I create with God.”

Searle said that she herself finds inspiration from being on site in a natural surrounding which is often the setting for her art. She uses photographs or rough sketches to formulate her ideas before she returns to her studio to begin creating her pen and ink drawings.

“When I’m on site, I might spend a bit more time there, in order to get a more visceral feel for the scene,” she said. “Sights, sounds, smells – they all help to jog my memory about the details when I spend a little time doing that. And as far as how much time I spend sketching, I spend no more than ten or fifteen minutes.”

Searle’s goal is to capture the mood and her art itself can take up to 80 hours to complete.

“I would never be able to do a start to finish drawing on site,” she noted. “The lighting for example, changes completely.”

Art has always been a part of Searle’s life, saying that she “always has had a pencil in her hand.” Drawing, sketching, coloring were always a big part of her life.

She went to school for art at the University of Lowell, earning a B.A. in Art. Her focus there was on illustration.

“When I had the mindset that I had to create for God, that it had to have a purpose, and I couldn’t see what the purpose is, I would get stuck,” Searle said. “I would feel like I couldn’t really do it. My drawings didn’t come out the way I wanted them to. I was just stuck and when I shifted my mindset to my creating with God, I’m spending that time in conversation with him while I’m drawing.”