Ojalá, Selah, Lateda

Trusting Prophecy and Talking about It

When I first decided I wanted to have a blog the idea was to have a place to share via the written word as well as the visual image. I expected to write regularly about what was going on in my life, what I was reading, and what I was thinking about in general. I imagined I would share drawings here and there. In October of 2007 when I started this thing I wasn’t doing much in the way of “real” art, most of the images I created were doodled on post-it notes while I was supposedly busy “designing” yellow page ad after yellow page ad. Then came Illustration Friday. IF was an amazing way for me to start purposefully making art again and then actually share it. My posts became more and more just my responses to whatever that Friday’s post was, which was was fine. However for some time now I have been aware that I wanted to start actually sharing words here again. There has been a lot going on in my life and so many mornings as I write to myself in my journal I think that whatever it is I am writing might be worth sharing in this form. I have a thing about starting though. I feel like coming back to write should start with a bang. I should start with “Today is the first day of the year 2010″ or “Today I quit the job I’ve had for nine years,” or even “Today I started the Daniel Fast.” But those days have come and gone. It has been 87 days since the year started, 77 days since I quit my job, and 15 days since I started the Daniel Fast. Not a round number amongst them, but hey, a girl has to start somewhere. So here I am writing despite the fact that I have no dramatic “today is” kind of news.

There is a lot to say about quitting my job and doing the Daniel Fast and how the two are related, but today I want to share a sculpture I finished a few weeks ago and entered in a local juried art festival. It is called Trusting Prophecy and is built of paper maché on top of an orange juice bottle. I didn’t use any paint in its decoration, other than some ribbon and a rock, and that orange juice bottle, all the details are made of paper. I must admit that when I entered it, along with 5 other pieces in the Cumming FUMC Festival of Arts I thought it would surely be accepted in the show and maybe even win a prize. However I was wrong. Of the six pieces I entered only one was accepted in the show and the author of the acceptance letters made a point of letting us all know that they had  worked hard to make sure each artist had at least one piece accepted. The fact that Opinion (Proverbs 15:28) will be in the show is a consolation prize that did not make me feel any better. I think I would have rather had all my pieces be rejected out right and pretend the show never even existed than to have to show up to drop off my little piece on second hand canvas board to the show, attend the opening, and watch someone else win the prizes. My first reaction was to spew as much venom as the Aztec looking soul in the accepted piece. I wanted to rant and rave that the people in Cumming, Georgia don’t know anything about art anyway, to justify my rejection by deciding the show was probably going to be full of watercolors of kittens and daisies in rustic buckets anyway.But that is not what these pieces are about. Proverbs 15:28 says that,  “The heart of the righteous weighs its answers, but the mouth of the wicked gushes evil,” and the prophecy I cite in the title of the paper maché piece is from Exekiel 36:26, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” This piece of art truly is a visual expression of my prayer to love people better, to have a heart that is made more of flesh than of stone. Perhaps its sole purpose was accomplished just by its being made. Perhaps it was too personal to be shared in an art show, even a church sponsored one. Or perhaps the purpose was to have this rejection, this humbling, to remind me of how much I still need to be praying this prayer and trusting in this prophecy. At least I believe I am heading in the right direction in this spiritual journey of mine, perhaps this whole experience will even bring me a step closer.

IF: Hatch

I couldn’t decide which of the 2 paintings I finished this weekend to post for this prompt. Even though they are quite different in tone they both feature a “hatched” creature. I worked on them together off the same pallet so if one wasn’t about to be sent off to live in New Mexico I think I would hang them side by side.

Pondering with Peacock is 7 by 10.5 inches.  Flirty Bird is 7 x 12.5 inches. Both are Acrylic on Wood.
Click on them to see them larger.

IF: Entangled

“After a while she got so entangled that all boundaries were lost.”

For Illustration Friday: Entangled
Collage of Pen & Ink Sketches

This piece started as a simple office post-it doodle on a pink square. It can still be seen on it’s corner in the center. Another, purple, post-it was cut in fourths and pasted to the corners and then all the pieces were placed on a larger yellow one. The transition between the different pieces was awkward until various swirls and a hand were drawn and cut out and pasted down crossing over the edges. A little black sharpie to bring up the contrast and it felt worthy of this week’s prompt.

IF: Flying

“The drawback to having an open mind was the way her thoughts kept flying away.”

For Illustration Friday’s Flying
Acrylic on Wood

I worked on this all weekend and I am very happy with the way the colors glow.

IF: Germ

“The washing of hands and the use of a tissue may prevent the spread of germs but a bad attitude is still easily spread. “

Acrylic on Wood
For Illustration Friday: Germs

Back in May the Illustration Friday prompt was Contagious. I used some doodles to make a digital collage but I knew it needed more work. When I came across a box of wood scraps a month or so ago I brought them home with the idea of doing some folk-art inspired paintings. The first one I started was based on the Contagious piece and it seems like “Germs” is the perfect prompt to share it. I had a hard time photographing it because of the varnish, that’s why the image is shown with some “perspective,” the actual piece of wood is a right-angled rectangle.

If: Pattern

“Consistent chaos can be considered a pattern.”

Pattern: For Illustration Friday
Pen & Highlighter on Paper

I talked to an old friend on the phone yesterday evening and though we hadn’t had the chance to talk in quite a while she told me she tried to keep in touch with me here. Whoops. It’s been way too long since I posted anything. I am going to make a concerted effort to bring some order to my own personal chaos and make time to post the pieces I am working on.

IF: Caution

“Though she did not know from whence it came, there seemed to be some sort of protective shield around her. It was as if a disembodied hand would appear to caution those who would do her harm and they would disperse.”

Caution: For Illustration Friday
Sharpies on Paper

IF: Idle

“To casual observers she appeared idle,
lazy even, but her level of lethargy was directly
related to the intensity of the battle raging within.”

For Illustration Friday: Idle
Acrylic on Canvas

IF: Shaky

“She was so resolutely focused on her course that she did not even sense how shaky the foundation was.” For Illustration Friday: Shaky Pen & Ink This piece is ridiculously tall so I had to make it pretty small to fit here. Click on it for a larger version you can scroll through.

IF: Worn

“Despite being completely worn out she
continued to prepare for the inevitable.”

For Illustration Friday: Worn
Pen & Ink & Digital Collage