Consider the Lilies

"Flower"
9X12"
soft pastel on Colorfix paper

I was getting quite bogged down with the cares of this world this week and neglecting my spiritual life. By the time Friday rolled around, I was feeling pretty down and tired. I didn't want to waste the entire evening watching television, but I felt like I needed to do something to take my mind off of everything for awhile. So I sat down to do some drawing/painting practice (yes, artists, like musicians, need to practice if they want to improve their skills). I painted this flower and then did another drawing and then went to bed.

I woke up the next morning still feeling run down on all fronts. I started to pray and was too distracted. I was feeling restless, so I decided to go for an early morning stroll. While I was out, I felt my mood brighten with the sunshine. I kept seeing all these wildflowers all around, and it cheered me up. I stopped to look at one particular flower, and then God spoke to me. He started reminding me about Matthew 6:28-30:

• "...Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?" (NKJV)

Wow. God puts so much beauty and detail into something that is so temporary, and I am so much more valuable to Him. So what am I doing, worrying about all this craziness going on in my life right now? My burdens were lifted away at that point, and I walked the rest of the way home praising God. And thanks to my "practice" the night before, I now have a visual reminder of this entire experience.

Revisitng Old Friends

Untitled
9X12"
Pastel

I took a rather long hiatus from visual art to pursue my musical interests. When I started to get back into visual art again, I decided to take a pastel class at the local art museum. It was a little scary at first--I had never worked with pastels before, and I hadn't been in an art class since 7th grade. I wasn't sure what to expect.

The teacher was excellent, and the students were friendly. I got over my fears fairly quickly and really enjoyed the class. The painting featured in this picture comes from one of the assignments we were given. We had to make a black-and-white copy of a picture we liked, and then we had to recreate the picture using color. I found a picture from the movie Sense and Sensibility, and I wanted to paint it for a friend of mine whose favorite actress was featured in the scene. I didn't get the resemblance that I wanted, but I was still very happy with how the picture turned out.

There was an older woman living in my apartment building at the time. I would try to visit with her whenever I could. She enjoyed looking at my art work, and she would always tell me that someday I was going to be a famous artist in New York City. What artist doesn't want to hear those kind of predictions being made about themselves? I may not be famous yet or in New York City, but I think of this time in my life--and the neighbor lady--very fondly. I ended up giving this painting to her, since she was such a fan. I really loved learning about pastels in the class, and I still enjoy the medium very much.