Ouch.

Last night was the opening for my first art exhibit. I entered this piece into the Vision of the Flint Hills jury selection process back in July. I was thrilled to receive my acceptance email last month. Last night was exciting for me, my first exhibit on a First Friday, my first exhibit ever. The [...]

Floating

Self portrait from a joyous family reunion. The effects of the Kansas wind also reflect the the cogs in my brain. I need a time of rest, a time for my windblown mind to settle. I’ve finally made it to this place. I have nowhere to go and nothing to do. I’ve been looking at [...]

Shift -ed

Towards the end of 2008, I felt anticipation, intuitively knowing that something was about to change. I found myself making concrete goals, taking affirmative action, becoming that artist I’ve been telling myself I am. My journal pages reflected this. I do owe much of it to this book: But something pushed me, prompted me to [...]

Fighting it

It’s that time of year again for me. I’ve been arming myself in the battle against Seasonal Affective Disorder. Although I have not become depressed, I can feel it grabbing my brain and pulling in different directions. It has been difficult for me to focus and get normal activities done. I also feel myself withdrawing [...]

My Mom the Artist

My mom and dad visited last week. Mom and I had fun as she designed some jewelry pieces for gifts, and I soldered for her. I love how they turned out. Front: Back: Friendship Ring: Front: Back: This was her first time creating charms. I think she did such a wonderful job. Her recipients are [...]

Decompression

For almost two years, my family has been preparing and serving meals each Friday at VERONICA’s Voice. This past Friday was our last day. God had been leading me to reevaluate our service this summer, and once school began for us, the answer was obvious. It was time to stop. I really have mixed emotions [...]

Chore Charts Begone

Chore charts have had an important part in the process of training the kids how to care for their own homes one day. As they have grown older, ages 12 and 14 now, we have reached a place in which the chore charts were actually working against the good of the family. While one child [...]

Balance again

Balance is a continuous theme in my life. Probably because life is not stagnant. I love change, but always have a difficult time finding the new balance in change. I had a rough summer. My husband was gone for long periods for much of his work. My empathy for single mothers rose significantly. As I balanced [...]

Summer

‘sez: “This summer will be different,” she says, like she says at the beginning of every adult summer she’s ever lived. “I’m going to relax and not do a thing.” Then she gets out her planner and looks at the lovely blank pages, and begins to fill them in. “Hmm, I’ve got to squeeze in [...]

Contradiction revisited

Since a recent assignment in The Artist’s Way, I’ve been pondering the truth behind the mantra, “Treating myself like a precious object will make me strong.” Being a student of Jesus Christ, my first reaction was that this mantra was not Biblical. The Scripture “let him deny himself” immediately came to mind. But experientially I have [...]

Contradiction?

Last week’s assignment from The Artist’s Way included writing and hanging this mantra:   So is the mantra a contradiction to this: Matthew 16:24-26 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. (25) For whosoever will save his life shall [...]

the Right Side of My Brain

I’ve desired to know how to draw for years. After several tries with “learn to draw or sketch” books with instructions and suggestions, I’ve finally decided that The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain was worth the time investment it would take to read. It is more than a “learn to draw” [...]

Redeeming the time

I’ve been working through the book, The Artist’s Way, these past few weeks. I highly recommend it for growth in any creative area of life. Each week there are new assignments to enable one to strip away the barriers from creative thinking and doing. This week I am practicing “reading deprivation.” I am not reading [...]

The Draw, the Pull

Much like gravity is this pull from the depths, the pull of my Creator. I see His fingerprints everywhere and long to gaze upon His face. Sometimes, rather often, I long to see His face greater than I long to dwell within the constructs of time and space. Thankfully, I know I am not alone in this [...]

Inconvenience

This word, inconvenience, describes a reaction I naturally give to my immediate family. I am annoyed. They give me trouble, and I let them know. And I have come to despise my own reaction. My trouble with responding to others is life-long, but for many years I was not even aware that I was responding in a [...]