Vanity of vanities

"Vanity of vanities," says the Preacher; "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity"
Ecc 1:2

I'm taking advanced drawing in my last semester at SJSU. It is clear from the first few sessions that the teacher wants each of her students to have a concept. I take "concept" to mean an idea or theme that you carry through in each of your drawings. This can be anything as long as you can talk it up and make it convincing. Oh, and the teacher has to like it.

One student does only war imagery. He's also in my lithography class, and I've seen his work before - he always draws soldiers and tanks and guns. Another student always paints or draws in neutral colors. Her work is very mysterious and dingy, like something from a scary dream you might've had as a child. There's usually an open door that leads to some stairway, with the possibility of something creepy lurking on the other side. Unsettling.

I am at a definite disadvantage in this class. I don't have a solid concept. I have always enjoyed making art that looks pretty (that doesn't count in art school). I feel like God made creation beautiful, and the best thing I can do as an artist is try to imitate that in some way. I don't like abstraction, and I see no reason to make art that leaves a person uneasy or unhappy, unless that feeling leads them to make things right between them and God.

In an effort to satisfy the nebulous "concept" requirement, I have adopted symbolism as my concept, and I use symbols that remind me of what God has done and is doing in his love for us.
It's a half-hearted attempt because I would much rather be painting flowers and landscapes, or portraits of my friends and family. But those things don't seem to count as art in this class. If it looks like something, it's too illustrative. The mentality is so human centered - as though we can really make something beautiful that isn't patterned after what God has already made. Artists are always trying to come up with something new, and it inevitably leads to evil. I am not saying that all artwork is evil, or that abstraction is wrong. But often our efforts to make something new pull us out of the real world, which God has made. When we try to make things that God has not made, we are on a futile path that leads to nowhere good.

That which has been is what will be,
That which is done is what will be done,
And there is nothing new under the sun.
Is there anything of which it may be said,
"See, this is new"?
It has already been in ancient times
before us.

Ecclesiastes 1:9-10

For my last four months as an art student, I want to make art that glorifies the Great Artist - God himself, who gives all creative ability. When I think of what he has made, the poetry he has written, and the stories he has told - how can I ever add to it?