First fridays

Well first fridays was great tonight. The weather turned out beautiful, everyone was out strolling to let go of the cabin fever they'd gotten during all that rain, and I had a grea time talking with the people that stopped by. It was just a very enjoyable stress free evening. Im excited about the upcoming shows. I got my acceptance letter to Arts Alive that will be May 14-15. I think that God has got some big things ahead and I can't wait to find out what they are. Thanks for reading and God bless.

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it's seems like a while

i know it's been way to long since i've updated my blog, but it seems like even longer since i've been able to sit down and have  good paint session.  don't get me wrong i have been doing some work...but it's not been joyful artwork.  Thankfully a painter friend of mine, Chia Dawn Yang has asked me to collaborate in coming up with a pro-life themed exhibit that we hope to have ready by next january, if not it will be the following.  I went to first fridays last month in florence, al and that turned out to be a damp event.  it rained the entire time...thankfully we caught a slight break in the rain just around the time we needed to pack up to go home.  I'm hopeful that this Friday's will turn out better.  the only other art show that is even in the semi near future that i'm planning to attend at this point is art's alive in downtown florence.  If you read this and feel led to, please say a prayer for this art ministry, for me that i would continue to feel inspired to the point of creating, that God would continue to be the main focus and that people would be touched somehow.  thanks for reading and it's always good to hear from you! GOD bless!

A beautiful ending

I've been almost dreading having to write this last blog.  To sum up how much that being able to walk this journey with Aunt Carla has meant to me.  I know it's partially because I think in some ways that it effected me, I may not even know and then in others...it's just hard to put into words.

He crowned Her in Glory

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'Oceanview'

For those who have been following my paintings and prayers for my aunt Carla, it is a glorious day for my aunt Carla today...as she took her first steps into true glory. At about 1am or so last night she went home to heaven. At this point I will continue in prayers and painting as I continue prayers for the family. And will also be looking for God to give a clear direction on what I need to do in the upcoming days.

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'Boating' 9x12 acrylic on linen paper

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Anniversary Flower

11x14 traditional wrap canvas

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'Under my umbrella' 9x12 acrylic on linen sheet

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'You tell me'

11x14 acrylic on canvas

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'In Womb'

' For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mothers womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the eath, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one came to be.' Psalm 139:13-16

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Give Love

Because today is valentines I guess God placed it in my heart to try to do a painting to express what true love really is.     In this world it seems that we want everything to be black and white. In our lives we do everything possible to keep ourselves safe and protected. We build 401k's to 'take care of ourselves when we get old enough to retire, we cover our shopping carts with disinfectant to protect our children from germs, we take medications to help reduce our chances of heart attack, even hold back parts of our hearts from those we love at times for fear of hurting them or being hurt by them. But the truth is with everyone of the above are just preventative measures that come with no guarantee that they will not fail and leave you in a position that will have been no better than if you'd not done any of them at all. That is why I believe God says things like 'do not store for yourselves treasures on earth but in heaven, and train up a child in the way they should go and they will never stray from it and last but not least on this day. Perfect love casts out fear....if we believe in Gods perfect love then we know that he will take care of us no matter what our circumstance and we should have no fear because fear has to do with punishment not love. Also if we fully love someone then that should cast out all fear...fear of whatever pain may come from loving someone completely, whether because of rejection, mistreatment or death. Love will bear all things and it never fails. So don't let fear rule your heart, if your going to give your heart give it fully to God and man. Gods perfect love will teach you how to love despite whatever pain that may be caused by the circumstances of our flesh.

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CAST YOUR CARES

Did thiis one during an amazing worship service lead by brian and randy whalen today. What a blessing!

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'Poppies for my friend'

A belated wedding gift for my friend Brittany. 18x20 acrylic on textured canvas.

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'Mercy Drops'

Painting by Whitney Tomlin entitled 'Mercy Drops'

In keeping with the prayer for mercy over Carla and the family.  I did a painting today entitled 'Mercy Drops'.  Each drop is a cut out of the word mercy from various hymns about the Lord giving mercy.  It is a 12x12 mixed media wood panel.

'Have Thine Own Way LORD'

With today's painting I wanted to be able to express a visual prayer to God.  At this point it seems almost that I have run out of things to pray to God, aside from saying the same things over and over again.  That's when I am most thankful for other forms of worship/prayer combined.  Through music and painting I can express words that may not be able to be put into verbal form.

'Praise You in this Storm'

This is representative of my aunt Carla gracefully
raising her arms as she turns toward the storm.  The
Red scarf represents the presence of Christ and the
sun in the back right is representative of the hope
that she has kept through this process.

There is a song by Casting Crowns called 'Praise you in this storm', I found out has been a song that sort of has spoken to my aunt Carla through this process. I want to share the lyrics and then tell how my aunt Carla has touched me through what has been happening in her life...

'Under His Wings'

Today I have done a mixed media painting including the words out of an old hymn i found in a songbook i have.  I am including the words because that is what the painting is about.

1. Under His wings I am safely abiding; Though the night deepens and tempests are wild, Still I can trust Him. I know He will keep me; He has redeemed me and I am His child.

chorus: under His wings, under His wings, Who from His love can sever? Under His wings my soul shall abide, Safely abide for ever.

2. Under His wings, what a refuge in sorrow! How the heart yearningly turns to His rest! Often when earth has no balm for my healing, There I find comfort, and there I am blest. (Chorus)

3.Under His wings, O what precious enjoyment! There will I hide till life's trials are o'er; Sheltered, protected, no evil can harm me; Resting in Jesus I'm safe evermore.  (Chorus)

God please let Carla find comfort and rest under your wings either here or in heaven.  Bless her Lord and raise her up!

'Waiting'

I can't imagine what it must have been like, back before the days when motorized engines were readily available, before boats were propelled by machine rather than wind or man-power or even steam.

'Everything is Beautiful in it's time'

Eclessiastes is where I was reading today and this verse from chapter 3:11 is what I decided to paint. This flower is made beautiful in it's time thanks to all the elements that contribute to its growth and development. All of which God plan in order to bring about a glorious result when the bud opens and the bloom is revealed.

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Everything is Beautiful in it's

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'Hebrews 4:12'

I'm going to pray verses over Aunt Carla for a while because Hebrews 4:12 explains just how powerful the word of God is over our bodies and spirit for that matter. For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Today's painting just expresses what I feel it would look like as the word is piercing and dividing down to the smallest of particals that make up our bodies. It is just a reminder to me of how small i am and how powerful God is that even His word can pierce into the depths of my body and spirit.              12x12 acrylic on wood panel.
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'Dreams You've placed in me' SOLD

12x12 acrylic/oil pastel on wood panel

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'HIS EYE IS ON THE SPARROW 2' SOLD

8x11 Acrylic on canvas cloth.

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'Uninhabited'

22x30 acrylic on canvas

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'Masked People'

8x11 mixed media.  Just thinking about how we all put on masks for different reasons at different times in our lives.  Maybe we've had a bad day and are going out, but don't want to be asked "what's wrong" for fear that we will break down in tears, or we are sort of permanently fixed in some charade of being someone that we are not.  whatever the case may be, the thing is we all need to learn to let down our guard, to get over our fears of other people's thoughts.  After all it is God's heart we are after isn't it?  And He is the one that sees our every tear, our every smile, our every thought and loves us the same.  Take off whatever mask you wear and face your fear, before you know it, your fear may be turned into joy, and then victory!

'Luke 11.34-36'

I've continued my study on light for a few weeks now.  It's not been a constant delving into the scriptures, more of a continuous (as in daily) thought over what has boiled down to a few verses.  matthew 6.22-23 and also luke 11.34 being similar.  I can't say that i've come to any amazing conclusions as to what exactly God is trying to say through these.  The verse in matthew when put into context is smack dab in the middle of one of Jesus lessons about being generous, not storing for ourselves treasures on earth, but rather in heaven.  So some reading and talking to people has brought me to one thought, that is, the verse is actually an idiom.  To explain i will first say the verses-

'In's and Out's'

8x11 acrylic on canvas cloth. Sorry for the delay posting. I posted on facebook before church and was going to do this after...but the day just got away with me! Ha.

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His eye is on the sparrow'

8x11 acrylic/oil pastel on canvas paper.

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'Standing on the promise's

Today as I was painting and praying I couldn't get the old hymn out of my mind. I think the name of is 'Standing on the promises'. So that is what I'll do.                   Todays painting is another for the collection i'm working on. It's a 16x30 acrylic on canvas.

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'Building a Foundation'

If each day of my life represented a brick laid in a foundation, i wonder what kind of foundation it would be? I think about my days, what they normally look like and imagine that my foundation, as of yet, is probably not laid in the most efficient nor effective of fashions.  I don't roll out of bed on my knees every morning and sometimes don't even acknowledge God and so much as even say hey and good morning to Him for the first hour or so, or at least not consciously.  I rarely get up early enough that I can get a good reading session done in my bible before my children are up and let's face it...once they are up, it is VERY hard to sit down and CONCENTRATE to be able to comprehend what I'm reading.  But there is always hope.  Hope that my desire to know God and my longing to know more of His heart will stir me enough so that i might lay a more solid life foundation.  I mean after all it's on this foundation that the immediate things around us rest.  I am a wife, so therefore if my foundation is not good..then my husbands won't be either (since we are one in accordance with the word), and i am a mother...so then my children will be effected as they rely on me in order to take care of them at there age.  Spiritually God is relying on me to be His representative, a representative with a solid foundation that others can rely on at times for different things.  So right now in my life i am going back to my foundations.  I want to make sure there are no cracks so that as I continue to build daily, everything doesn't come crashing down because i neglected to keep priorities straight, or keep focused on a goal of keeping God first in my life.

'John Bell'

2nd commissioned painting to make limited edition poster prints to commemorate the 25th and last tour of the band widespread panic.

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'Dreary Day'

Well it was a dreary rainy day here so that's what I felt like painting. A rainy day in a city setting. 12x14 acrylic on canvas.

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'Practicing Light'

24x36 acrylic/oil pastel on canvas.

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'Longing'

As an earthly father longs after the heart of his wife and children, so our heavenly father longs after our hearts. So much so that He has reached out to us through the blood of His son. This is what was represented today through this painting.

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'Keep on Track'

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'Let the light of your face shine down'

'Let the light  of Your face shine down'

16x16 acrylic on wood panel.
couldn't get 'light of your face' a song by Misty Edwards out of my head while i was painting this one.

Keep it Colorful

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'Rise and Shine'

Today for some reason I felt like I got the word to pray for light in aunt Carla's life.  I'm not sure in what ways, and maybe it's not for me to know but I've just been praying that she would be surrounded by color.  I know that color is a form of light, and that whatever color we see is just the spectrum of light being reflected off an object, so maybe God is giving me a unique way to pray for the different facets of Himself to be revealed.  I know many times in the bible God is referred to as being light, or we as believers are like lamps and so on and so forth so I'm wanting to do a more in depth study of light and colors and how it relates to references of light in the bible.  One thing i found online today that i enjoyed reading is the passage below....

'Jimmy Herring'

I was contacted by a friend yesterday and asked about doing some paintings in order to use to make copies for posters.  It is supposed to be posters to commemorate the 25th anniversary tour of the band widespread panic.  So today's painting is the first of those.  The name of this band member is Jimmy Herring.  The posters will be signed and numbered for limited edition prints to be sold at a concert in Georgia.
   I think I'm gonna allow myself a few days in between doing this because I tell you it is definitely not an intimate time with God when you are doing a commissioned piece.  Also I've been fighting a cold or something and wanted nothing more than to go and take a nap when I layed the kids down today.  It's when I consider that all I'm dealing with is a cold, that  I truly realize what amount of strength that God has blessed my aunt Carla with.  I pray that God continues to supply her with that same strength to endure what she is going through. Thank you for reading and God bless you.

'The Farm'

#17/365 'The Farm' 16x16 acrylic/oil pastel on wood panel.

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'Reflection'

#16/365 ' Reflection'16x16 acrylic/oil pastel on wood panel. Today I took time to think about God's purpose for me and my life.  I feel like with this call to painting and prayer that I have to keep things in my life more "orderly" both in a spiritual sense and a physical sense. It has forced me to have to hold myself up to the standard that I believe God would have me to be at and just to gain a better perspective on how I am going to be able to continue living my life and grow closer to Him in the process. I know that I can never live up to His perfect expectations but I am thankful every day for His grace that allows for my insufficient nature. I do continue in the hope of bettering myself thanks to the hope that Christ puts in my heart. So in keeping with the theme of todays self reflection..I painted my reflection and thus my first self-portrait was produced.           God help us to always have hope for ourselves and for our being able to die to ourselves and carry on with whatever purpose you have for us. Give us the strength to do it with the best of our abilities and Lord help us to guard our hearts so that we don't waiver. AMEN. Thanks for reading and God bless you! 

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TWISTED

#15/ 365.  24x24 acrylic/oil pastel on wood panel

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'Romans 8;28'

²⁸ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who^[a] have been called according to his purpose.


After painting todays work I just thought that this name Romans 8v28 seemed right, because all of these things stacked on top of each other are working together to make a complete picture.


Lord I pray that no matter what our circumstances that we face from day to day that you will use those for good.  Lord when a day brings something that seems that no good could come of it, that whatever lesson that you would have us to learn you would bring that to the surface.  Amen

'A Lonely road without Him'

    I'm so thankful that I have never known what it is like to be an orphan.  I grew up with a great set of parents that were always there whenever I needed them.  In reading in John 13 and 14 I have been reading about how Jesus continues to refer to himself as being 'in the Father' and the Father being 'in Him'.  I can't help but think about what that means in the earthly sense.  I consider that my parents made me and raised me and in a lot of ways we are 'in' each other I think in much the same way that Jesus was referring to. I think that is the way God designed us as families.  We are able to understand one another well because we have a melding of will's with one another because of genetic and learned things.  I think that is why in a lot of ways sometimes parents are the only ones that may understand certain circumstances that we go through in life where we may need advice on what to do or how to handle situations.

    I also know that there are some things that we as people fight within ourselves, a certain 'battle' that may never be verbally expressed to another human being, maybe because of fear of not being understood or whatever the reason, but those are the times when I've needed the Holy Spirit the most. There have been several times when I felt like there couldn't possibly be anyone else in the world that knew exactly how I was feeling or what I was going through.  Those are the times where there just didn't seem to be words worthy to express the type of feeling that was deep inside of me, nor the thoughts that were running through my mind.  Often times even then my parents were unable to reach the depths of whatever battle my mind or spirit was facing, and much of this time I didn't have the Holy Spirit in my life either.  It was a loneliness that no one could have filled, yet the only one that was capable of pulling me out of it was God himself in the form of the Holy Spirit.

'Geometric'

'Geometric' 12x14 acrylic on canvas.

John Chapter 14

I've been enjoying reading John 14 today, and thinking more about the last few verses particularly verse 14 'And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.' I am going to have to think on this verse for a few days, maybe God will reveal more about it in the next few days.  I just feel as if there is something deeper to asking in the name of Jesus, and I want to know more about how that  he brings glory to the Father.  I just keep thinking about how that we as children of our parents carry their last name and as that we are representing them.  So that name association brings glory to them when we 'win the big basketball game' or make an 'A' on our test or whatever the case may be.....so maybe I will have more on that in the next day or so.  It will be something I will meditate on.

'Snow Day'

Because of the snow yesterday I never posted yesterdays picture to my blog,
only facebook.  so here is yesterday's painting.  I took a very short 30 minutes
to do yesterdays because I had 2 kids that were dieing to go out into the snow!

'This is the day'

I don't really have a lot to say today.  I do believe today is the most tired i've been so far and the hardest it's been to make myself to not take a nap but rather paint.  I know that it is no where near what aunt carla endures on a daily basis, but even just feeling this way and having to push through it gives me all the more respect for her and how well she handles the things that come her way on a daily basis.  I know that God is obviously with her for her to be striving through this.  God please continue to be with aunt carla.  Bless her mind and her body and Lord anything that the enemy tries to tell her or make her to believe through whatever attacks that come her way, Lord I pray that you will keep her from believing that, but that rather she would continue to believe you and your words to her. Give her life.  Amen

Steady as She goes'

I must admit that there feels like a certain amount of pressure to perform at this point.  I guess that is just the natural human reaction whenever you know people are watching you.  but it can also be a bit of a weight to carry, so I hope that i can push through that like the ship merging out of the fog in todays painting.  I continue to have to remind myself that my painting is not about me, but rather about my spending intimate time with God in prayer.  I tend to notice the days when I have trouble keeping focused on that, the paintings don't flow out of me as freely.  It's almost like when your in prayer with God and your reciting words, rather than really having a conversation.

'Humbled Today'

well today was a great day for painting.  There are some days that it just doesn't feel like when i get done with  a painting that it is complete...there always seems to be something or many things missing and i'm always very critical of them.  Today was different though, it was just one of those times where it felt like the paint was working with me, sure i was doing the usual...sometimes talking to my paint...sometimes asking God to help to show me what i'm missing but today it just all fell into place so nicely.  After I was done  I even stood back and sort of 'proudly' said to myself wow..i like it.  haha but as God always has such a graceful way of showing us our faults and humbling even the proudest of peoples so he did with me!  when i finished the painting i took it outside as i always do to coat it with a clear acrylic sealant, i looked up at the sky and saw the MOST BEAUTIFUL clouds i've seen in a long time...and I heard God's gentle voice say..this is the work of my hands.  Of course after that i look down at my little canvas that i'd just brought outside and it didn't seem near as wonderful as the glory i beheld when looking up into the canvas of God's sky!  So that is why i named todays painting 'Humbled Today' because i was humbled by the glory of God's hand and how that he so magnificently displayed it to me!

'Faith' bridges the gap between us and GOD

(The exerpt below was taken from verseoftheday.com.)

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

— 2 Corinthians 4:18 (NIV)

Thoughts on Today's Verse...

What do you see most clearly today? Is it what is seen or what is unseen? No matter our belief system, we ultimately have to trust what we can't see. Even the most atheistic scientists trust gravity, breathe air, and depend upon principles they cannot see until these realities produce results in the tangible world of human perception. But as Christians, we don't believe the seen world is any more real as the unseen world. In fact, most of the seen world is subject to death, disease, disaster, decay, disorder, and death. I don't know about you, but if it isn't any more permanent than that, it's not going to be very real for any of us for very long. I want to hang on to something that allows me to look past the seen and to find my Father who is unseen. He is the one who guarantees the unseen!

This is what I read today before starting my painting.  So I decided since it was so fitting a verse for the cause in which I'm painting these 365 days, why not write it on my canvas. 

#5/365 'Can't Force a Mule'

'Can't Force a Mule' 12x14 acrylic/oil pastels on textured canvas.

I always love how God uses my mistakes to help make something that feeds my soul.  Let me tell you about how glorious he really is.
I started prepping my canvas today, should have done it last night so that the prime coat would be finished but...I'm a bit of a procrastinator at times and well that just didn't happen! so anyways I was just trying to get my textured layer that I put on the canvas today to dry faster and somewhere I read that with acrylic material it's better to use the oven that a blow dryer because it dries through and through instead of just the top layer.  So i did just that..stuck it into the oven.  10 or so minutes later I'm starting to smell a potent chemical type smell as it wafts through my home in all it's glory and i say to myself "guess i better go check on the canvas".  I open up the oven door and the stuff is bubbling up on the canvas like a bad case of the chicken pox! OH DEAR.

#4/365 'Mary' Acrylic and Oil pastels on Canvas

'Iris' 20x24 acrylic on canvas

day 2 painting finished

2/365 'revealing hope' 12x14 acrylic on textured canvas as in when noah sent the bird daily after the flood to look for land, and one day the dove brought back hope, in the form of an olive branch.

364 left and i'm already up and getting ready

well i've been up since 4am.  I woke up and layed in bed for about 30 minutes trying to go back to sleep but couldn't because i kept thinking about what I was going to paint today.  so after my time of procrastination i decided maybe God knew I needed to go ahead and get up...since we never know what the day holds, why not go ahead and use whatever time i have been given.  I was able to get up and read for a bit in my bible.  I was reading about the centurion soldier that sent some jewish elders to Jesus to ask the centurions servant's healing.  Jesus heads to the home of the centurion and he is stopped outside  of the home and told that the centurion believes he's not worthy for his Lord to step into his house, and the centurion does something to show great faith.  He says "say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me.  I tell this one, 'Go' and he goes, and that one, 'Come,' and he comes.  I say to my servant, 'Do This,' and he does it."