Why the Camel Smiles

Yesterday I got to go to a workshop on Islamic art and religion; Why the Camel Smiles: Exploring the Tradition of the 99 Most Beautiful Names of God from the Qur'an, presented by Andrew Kosorok. He is working on a fascinating and beautiful series about/based on 99 of the names of God in the Islamic tradition. I've been interested in the project since I heard about it a few years back and have watched eagerly to see more in the series.
Something that I took away from the workshop was in Islamic art, everything they create is a testimony and a testimony that God is beautiful. I love that idea, that your art should speak for your beliefs and your love of what you believe and should reflect that in its quality and craftsmanship. This or similar ideas have been presented to me before but I get distracted by other things and I forget. I want that to be part of my ultimate goal, I don't want to make art in order to become famous, or to make it into an art history text book, I want to create beautiful art that can influence people, be appreciated for its beauty both today and hundreds of years down the road. I want to create a lasting testimony of what I know about beauty and about the things I believe. They're lofty goals and ones that aren't exactly easy in this day and age, if they ever were but that is what I hope to achieve with my art and my life.