Myopic View

I’ve decided that myopic persons named the constellations. Last night as I lay under a blanket of stars, I viewed the vast night sky through my severely nearsighted eyes. The bright stars were round gold buttons, the dim stars swallowed by the black. The patterns of the constellations distinctly appeared, danced, and told me their [...]

Botanica Exotica

The last class I took at Artfest was Botanica Exotica taught by Melissa Manley. We formed botanical shapes from wire and added sausage casing. Having had little experience working with wire, I found forming the shapes to be the challenge. Also the lack of sleep from several days of Artfest infusion was affecting my ability [...]

Motivation

Environmentally conscious, not a label for me. I was born a lover of this earth. It is so beautiful. I was a recycler way before it was politically correct. But I hate labels. And I hate marketing. I don’t shop much and avoid advertising, but my mom has been pointing out to me how the word [...]

Blackbird Full Circle

Page in my altered hymnal 11/02/07:

Beatles song learned by my son on guitar this past couple weeks:

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise.
Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these sunken eyes and learn [...]

Trees

I’m still not reading and still not enjoying not reading. I’m curious when I get done with this assignment if I will appreciate something about it. I have been busy though. Today I soldered a bit more. Here’s the result:

I painted the trees on Scripture and then gave them a blue glaze to [...]

Castle Rock

Many people believe that a drive through Kansas on I-70 is the most boring drive in our United States. Little do they know what is just off the highway.
That’s my daughter up there. I’m not real sure how she got there, nor do I want to know. These limestone bluffs are quite crumbly. Not the [...]

Waxing Eloquent

Cow Bird Observations by amanda jolley

Cow bird, cow bird,
Oh, so sweet.
Peck a pile of
Dung to eat.
amanda ∞ (tee hee)

Winter

The trees are stark. All the earth takes on extremes of light or dark. Nothing is growing. All is still, silent. Outside. On the grey days, I long for Spring. When the sun shines, my whole body rejoices. Hope springs up within me. Why do I feel this surge of hope? Because I have tasted of spring and watched [...]

Symbiosis

Front:

Back:

My husband’s Christmas present was also my first piece of art outside of a book. Although I did prepare a canvas, I ended up using the cover of a book instead. The words in ink read Symbiosis: the living together of two dissimlar organisms, such as you and I. The highlighted text on the page reads [...]

Art Every Day #2 – Creation

The trees on my nature hike really had an impact. I’ve been wanting to complete the Creation theme for the Salt challenge a couple weeks ago. Today was the day as I completed my art for the day.
The book print is actually a cut-out of an extremely old Bible that no longer has a binding. [...]

Art Every Day #1 – Tree Sketch

Yesterday we saw a grouping of trees that took our breath away. This is my attempt to capture one of them. I am slowly learning to sketch. What I had to remove first was the thought that I can’t sketch. I can, but am just learning. That still sounds like an excuse, doesn’t it?
amanda ∞

Enjoying Creation

Yes, I’ve committed to another challenge. I am going to do art every day in the month of November, and I’m going to share it with you. What creative thing did I do today? I worshiped and praised while taking a hike with some others from our homeschool group. God’s art is the most inspiring of all. [...]

Jurassic Field Trip

Yesterday, our homeschool group met at Powell Gardens for a gorgeous day of dinosaur hunting. The weather was perfect for an outdoor stroll. My daughter captured some of the ferocious beasts we encountered on her camera.
Some of the dinosaurs were quite easy to find,

while others took a moment to discover.

What a wonderful day [...]

Father Abraham

The latest Salt challenge is God’s promises. As I pondered which of God’s promises to touch on, God gave me a theme. We are studying Abraham’s life this week with our Tapestry of Grace curriculum. As we reviewed the Bible reading for the week, God’s promise to Abraham stood out to me.

Genesis 22:16-18 And said, By [...]

The Cottonwood

The cottonwood tree in my neighbor’s back yard is preparing to sing. I heard him doing warm ups this morning.
Each year I look forward to autumn and the singing of this tree. His voice is beautiful. He tells stories of water and of preparation and of childhood. He sings to me the love of my father.
I [...]