REJOICE WITH ME!!!

All eight canvases for my church are DONE!  This set was plagued by several hiccups schedule-wise, several hiccups health-wise, and several hiccups content-wise.  But they're done!!  And I'm pleased.  I see the kindness of God all over these images.  He came alongside me and painted, as He usually does.  So rejoice with me!  GOD IS GOOD, AND KIND, AND FAITHFUL, AND COMPASSIONATE, AND CREATIVE!!

All the smudges along the bottom are glued on calendar pages.  They were really bold in their colors, so I went over them with a dry white brush.  They almost disappear now, but I'm ok with that.

The bird's nest in this one is 3-dimensional.  It's made of wadded up tissue paper, and it sticks out from the canvas.  No picking at it, people!!!

This one also has tissue paper.... that orange stripe is glued on, instead of being paint.  All the white marks are where the paint picked up the wrinkles in the tissue paper.

More tissue paper here.  All the beige smudges are glued on instead of painted on.

Here We Go!

We're goin' black!  Change is good, and invigorating, and exciting, and even challenging.  All 8 canvases for  my church went black at the tail end of last week.  Today I started on the new images.  Two are done!  Six more to go.....

I love these two.  Especially as a pair!  What a thought, that Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God is a warrior on my behalf.  And not only that, HE IS VICTORIOUS!!!  Love that.

Time For A Change

Nobody likes change.  I only like it when I get to gut and improve a really ugly house.  But when it comes to getting rid of the canvases at my church, nobody likes it... at least judging from the reactions I get!  The last set WAS beautiful.  And it WASN'T great fun painting over them.  But change is good.  And God keeps track, for what it's worth.

So the new set is done!  See if you're up on your geography:

I will say it again: the lighting in the worship center is not fabulous for taking color-accurate pictures, but you get the idea!  My favorite is this last one showing the whole globe.

One lovely trick that I just learned:  when you do your lettering on graph paper, then it's much easier to make sure it's level when projected!!  You just put your level against the lines of the graph paper!  No measuring over and over and over...  It's complicated to explain, so just rejoice with me, even if it makes no sense!!

So, how was your geography knowledge?  The map behind Acts 1:8 shows the streets in my small mountain town.   I wanted to show the people of my church that WE LIVE IN the remotest part of the earth, and WE ARE TO BE JESUS' WITNESSES WHERE WE LIVE!

Done!!! DONE!!

Oh, it feels fabulous to be done!  I brought home all my tools and paint and PUT THEM AWAY.  Yeah, I'll get them all out again in the not too distant future, but for now everything is in it's place, and it feels ... like a deep, contented sigh.  It makes me wonder what God felt when He rested on the 7th day after creating everything.  It was VERY GOOD, and He was DONE ... I think maybe I feel a SMIDGE of the joy and contentment that He felt.

There's one more canvas that isn't included here.  The picture that I got of it was AWFUL, so I have to go back and try again.

I've had people ask me what a mountain bike has to do with being crucified with Christ.  This time around I didn't pick images to go with the text.  Instead I picked images that are a part of our everyday life here in the mountains of Colorado, with a nod to the upcoming seasons.

So do you have a favorite?  I'd love to hear from you!

And Now Some Words....

....and not just ANY words!  THESE words have LIFE!  Speak, Word of God, to those who come through our doors.  Be active and alive and miracle working and productive, like only the Word of God can.

Five, Six

Two more done, only two left....of course then I have to go back and add all the words.  But this way we don't have to stare at black squares week after week after week.

The canvas with the tent didn't start out with a tent.  It had a lovely up-close shot of a branch from a blue spruce, all covered with snow, in the morning sunlight (which makes everything an astounding color).   Only, it wasn't working.  AT ALL.  The reference photos were stunning, which is a testimony to the creative GENIUS of God!  But I FAILED MISERABLY at copying Him!  There have been times in the past when I was painting something, and was CONVINCED that it was going to be a huge flop, and then after a good night's sleep, discovered that it wasn't a flop after all!  That didn't happen this time!  So I painted over it, and came up with a completely different image!

God paints the morning with goose-bumpy beauty.  Me, not so much!

One, Two, Three, Four

And so starts a whole new set for my church.  

On Monday I peeled off the old paintings (with the help of an extremely selfless friend...it's not a fun job!).  They are now folded up and lounging in the dumpster.

On Tuesday I stretched new sheets over the framework.

On Wednesday my hubby and I sprayed them all a lovely gunmetal color (although, looking at the barbed wire, you'd think the background was a different color.  Not so.)  I should say that HE sprayed them, I stood by and watched.

On Thursday I started painting.  And on to Friday.  And on to Saturday.  Starting completely over is a bit time consuming!  But, oh the results!!  These will eventually have words.  But for now we'll sit there and stare at some very Colorado-ish images.

When I was painting them, I was absolutely SURE the barbed wire was my favorite.  But THEN I painted the Indian Paintbrush, and OH MY WORD!!!  Did my Lord hold my hand?!  Did He direct my color choices?!  Did He?!  Amen and amen.  I LOVE THESE.

Two More for Genesis

Two more for the series through Genesis. 

I love the thought behind God providing the lamb for the sacrifice.  Especially with Christmas coming up.  Sometimes I almost forget that the little baby born in Bethlehem was THE LAMB.  God Himself.  Sent by God Himself (brain bender there).  To be sacrificed to please God Himself. I am moved to my core.

And then, the caravan to Egypt, with Joseph tied on at the end.  What a miserable trip.  If only he could have looked forward, eh?  I was just talking to a friend in the grocery store today, about how God is ALWAYS active, even when His work is completely invisible to me.

Both images tell  me that God is FAITHFUL and TRUSTWORTHY.

Two More From Genesis

I sort of got these out of order.  Well, I PAINTED them in order, I just didn't PHOTOGRAPH them in order.  There's something about finishing a canvas, and just wanting to pack up and go home!  With a celebratory Starbucks for the drive!

The first image was the idea of one of my pastors.  I don't think people "get" it, though.  It's the story of the flood.  And that's Pikes Peak sticking up out of the water.

The second is from God's promise to Abraham.  God loves faith.  "And Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness."  Beautiful.

Today I finished up painting the ram caught in the thicket, from the story where Abraham goes to sacrifice Isaac in obedience to God.  And did I take a picture?  Or did I go to Starbucks and head home?  I'll let you figure it out.

Genesis Eleven

We're still working our way through Genesis.  This is the Tower of Babel, or what my imagination came up with.  It was great fun to paint, although I had to get out the level once or twice.  It still leaves a vague impression that it's tilting, doesn't it?

I painted a canvas for the flood, as well, but it's a little dark, and so far I haven't been able to get a good image of it!  I'm going to have to take it down out of it's frame and move it to a different wall to photograph.

Half way done!

Genesis Three

"Now the serpent was  more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made.  And he said to the woman, 'Indeed, has God said, "you shall not eat from any tree of the garden?"'"  And the story goes on.  Adam and Eve had no idea what they would lose.  God would come to them and say, "what is this you have done?"....and they would realize that they had thrown away everything good, and hopeful, and beautiful.

I painted that loss.  Everything became dark and dismal.  And God became distant.  I love the hope that God speaks, though:

"You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart." (Jeremiah 29:13)  Because of the blood of Jesus, God doesn't stay distant.

Genesis One

"God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good." Genesis 1:31

I couldn't bring myself to paint a lovely garden scene, with lots of greenery and two naked adults with artfully placed drapery.  Besides, creation is so much more!  More than the initial garden.  More than what I see in my little mountain town.  More than our globe.  The creativity and power of God are astounding.

God says, "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?  Tell Me, if you have understanding, Who set its measurements?  Since you know.  Or Who stretched the line on it?  On what were its bases sunk?  Or Who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?"   (Job 38)  It must have been ASTOUNDING to behold.

Here we go!

Change: a)to make different in some particular b)to make radically different

That about sums it up.

The canvases at my church are changing.  Yesterday morning they had lovely images and pieces of scripture on them.  This morning they were all jet black.  Tomorrow morning (Lord willing!) one of them will begin to show evidence of yet another image, and yet more scripture.  By Tuesday morning it just may be done!

Change is good, right?

The Final Three

I kept forgetting my camera, so this is the result of a couple weeks worth of work.  It was great fun!  Getting the reference pic for the "Follow Me" canvas was an adventure all it's own, simply because my models, though very cooperative, were a little slap happy.

I LOVE how gnarled the widow's hand turned out.  That's one of those delightful surprises that happen to me all the time.  Clearly the kindness of God!

So this set is done.  All the paint is now in the crawl space where it won't freeze.  My little scaffold is folded up and stashed in the garage.   Time to move on to some small stuff...!

Peace! Be Still!

I'm gettin' there!  Just a couple more to go!

I love this one.  I think because it soo speaks to me.  How often do I repeatedly whine to the Lord, "don't you care?!"  My accusations seem to multiply as whatever storm I'm in intensifies.  "Don't you care?  Don't you care? Don't you care?"  What an absurd question!

"He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?" I think that means He cares.