Sometimes one just needs to stop!

There comes a time when working on a painting that I say, "That's enough!" It's time for the painting to sit while the paint settles into the paper.  It's time to get on with something new.  If I continue to work on this painting I will likely come to dislike it - one begins to fiddle and pick at things and then nothing seems quite right...

It has taken over a month of working off and on - an evening snatched here, an afternoon several days later - to actually get this painting to the place where I have decided to stop.  I'm exhausted because this type of painting is very time consuming and tends to pull me into myself.  Perhaps it's time to do an acrylic painting which is for me, a less meditative and more confrontational way of painting.  With acrylics I tend to fight with the paint and talk to the picture out loud.  A few days to regroup my thoughts, adjust my vision and tackle something different.

Meanwhile this will be hidden away while we wait for the Flowering Ornamental Crabapples that line our streets to once again burst into a million pink and white blossoms and welcome the spring.

"Visual Memories"

I am amazed at the diversity of God's creation and mankind's creativity!  What a privilege to enjoy a week visiting my sister and her husband in Savannah, Georgia where we explored an entirely different physical environment and a city full of history, memories, inspiring architecture, and diverse artistic creativity.  A blend of old and new, classic and modern, ancient cobblestone and plenty of spanish moss.  Because it is still difficult for me to wrap my head around all we saw and experienced I've decided to pull together a few photos to give a visual picture of the beauty and diversity that makes up a minute portion that part of the world...

Blue Heron in the stream by the house

view from the back deck - driving range just past the trees

lichens - wonderful colour!

Bonaventure Cemetery

one of many beautiful statues in the cemetery

First Baptist Church - Cross erected on Ash Wednesday

Cathedral of St John the Baptist

typical sidewalk in the historic district

Art Market

Book Store - lots of nooks and crannies

hallway at the Savannah College of Art and Design

Gallery Espresso - our favorite coffee shop - one of ~ 24 city park squares in the background

Inside Gallery Espresso

one level of the fountain in Forsyth Park

post to tie a horse to - wonder how old this would be?

one of many courtyards

marina on Skidaway Island

salt marshes - they seem to surround Skidaway Island

Tea Room

Tea time - Memories of Gran

 museum at the Savannah College of Art & Design

  

Tybee Island

Simple Sights

I often wonder why I paint... why write... or play a tune....

Do I simply push around the colours until they form a pleasing image, rework words into an expression of yet another interpretation, form scales, triads, and trills into one more melody...?

Sometimes it seems that what has already been done I am simply copying or reforming.

I suppose one thought is, "Yes, but this painting, this writing, this tune, is remade according to who I am, my delights, my sorrows, my vision and senses."

There is a fulfillment that comes when light and colour clash or flow into one another and reflect back to me from the paper, when words formed into a short phrase embody much ponderings, when a tune causes my mind to forget words, my eyes to close and my spirit to soar in pleasant release.

Oscar Wilde, wrote, "Humility in the artist is his frank acceptance of all experiences, just as Love in the artist is simply that sense of Beauty that reveals to the world its body and its soul."

I don't know in what context this was written but it reminds me that "before the mystery of what is, and what happens, I offer homage because it is not of my own making, and that I am stirred and blessed simultaneously by nature's beauty and depth revealed in the 'ordinary'." How grateful I am to be able to see, hear, smell and touch - and how grateful I am to live life where I can "glimpse the infinity that hides in the simple sights," and  respond creatively to what is.

For the Senses  [John O'Donohue]  
May the touch of your skin
Register the beauty
Of the otherness
That surrounds you.

May your listening be attuned
To the deeper silence
Where sound is honed
To bring distance home.

May the fragrance
Of a breathing meadow
Refresh your heart
And remind you you are
A child of the earth.

And when you partake
Of food and drink,
May your taste quicken
To the gift and sweetness
That flows from the earth.

May your inner eye
See through the surfaces
And glean the real presence
Of everything that meets you.

May your soul beautify
The desire of your eyes
That you might glimpse
The infinity that hides
In the simple sights
That seem worn
To your usual eyes.

Adeste fidelis

Adeste fidelis.  “Come and behold him, born the king of angels.  Speak to him or be silent before him. In whatever way seems right to you and at whatever time, come to him with your empty hands.  The great promise is that to come to him who was born at Bethlehem is to find coming to birth within ourselves something stronger and braver, gladder and kinder and holier, than ever we knew before or than ever we could have known without him.” Frederick Buechner

Adventus

Stories invite us into a world larger than ourselves. 

God invited mankind into His story of the universe when He created Adam and Eve.  The narrative recorded in the Old Testament is primarily interested in God’s revelation of himself to mankind and begins an unfolding revelation of His plan to accomplish this.

This plan centers round God’s presence – God continually says, “I am with you.”  He longs for relationship with us and in Jesus He physically entered our world.

Like the people of the Old Testament we recall the many prophecies of his coming.  As they waited so we wait. Advent slows us down. It makes us think. It makes us look beyond today.

Advent reminds us what we are waiting for as we go through this busy season. Advent did not end with the coming of Jesus in Bethlehem 2000 years ago – Advent welcomes us to participate in the continuing story of God as we learn to wait for the second coming of Jesus, the Messiah.

When the first flame of the Advent wreath lights up in our homes and our Churches, we begin a new liturgical year.  Christmas is four weeks away and as we travel through these four weeks the light increases and we are reminded through the story of others why Jesus was born.

Advent, from the Latin word Adventus, means “coming.”   This season focuses on preparation and joy as we look forward to the coming of the Messiah. We rejoice as we begin our journey to the manger in Bethlehem to witness the birth of Jesus.

Our preparations for Christmas reflect this as well. It is a time when we clean out our houses to make way for the coming company and celebration… John the Baptist called people to consider their souls and called them to clean the sin out of their lives in preparation for the coming of the Christ.  We clean things away both physically and spiritually to make way for the coming of Jesus.   

This is also a time of year when nature begin to move from darkness to light. Indeed, in nature, this is the darkest time of the year – I love the moment we crest the longest night to turn our path to longer days. Advent looks towards that moment.

For many years we as a family have included in our seasonal preparations the custom of the Jesse Tree – a tree or branch decorated with ornaments or symbols signifying individuals in the genealogy of Jesus through the line of David, son of Jesse. The symbols also symbolize God's ongoing presence and covenant with mankind.  In this way we celebrate how God With Us, El Shaddai, welcomed humanity to walk the journey with Him in Jesus and how we now look forward to His coming once again.  How blessed we are to have a place in the story of God.

Evening Solace

I just finished this painting and thought that "Evening Solace" was the right name for it.  I entered these two words in google and came across this wonderful poem by Charlotte Bronte. So pleased.
       

    EVENING SOLACE

"Evening Solace"

The human heart has hidden treasures,
In secret kept, in silence sealed;
The thoughts, the hopes, the dreams, the pleasures,
Whose charms were broken if revealed.
And days may pass in gay confusion,
And nights in rosy riot fly,
While, lost in Fame's or Wealth's illusion,
The memory of the Past may die.

But there are hours of lonely musing,
Such as in evening silence come,
When, soft as birds their pinions closing,
The heart's best feelings gather home.
Then in our souls there seems to languish
A tender grief that is not woe;
And thoughts that once wrung groans of anguish
Now cause but some mild tears to flow.

And feelings, once as strong as passions,
Float softly back - a faded dream;
Our own sharp griefs and wild sensations,
The tale of others' sufferings seem.
Oh! when the heart is freshly bleeding,
How longs it for that time to be,
When, through the mist of years receding,
Its woes but live in reverie!

And it can dwell on moonlight glimmer,
On evening shade and loneliness;
And, while the sky grows dim and dimmer,
Feel no untold and strange distress
Only a deeper impulse given
By lonely hour and darkened room,
To solemn thoughts that soar to heaven
Seeking a life and world to come.

Charlotte Bronte

"Called to the Table"

“Called to the Table”

Recently Jesus keeps calling me to the table.  Sometimes I listen, stop, sit and visit; sometimes I’m in a rush and quickly pass by; sometimes I’m at the table but too full of myself and my concerns to be fully “present.” But this is an invitation I should not ignore.

I enjoy a good chat or discussion with coffee in hand and I grew up having “tea” with my Gran while listening to the story of her life. So the image of being “Called to the Table” resonates with me.

Jesus calls us to follow Him – to walk with Him on the dusty paths of Palestine; to sit in the synagogue as He reads of his Father’s deep love for mankind and of His own mission to bring healing to the brokenhearted, to walk with those who suffer. And, as we follow, I believe that at significant moments Jesus calls us to sit down and find nourishment for life - to be taught and mentored by Him, to be nurtured and encouraged.  When we are full he anoints us with oil and sends us forth with His benediction. This is God’s divine hospitality.

A few examples:

Psalm 23  My first acrylic painting was an impressionistic landscape. As I watched a deep dark crevice wind its way up the canvas to the light I thought about the valleys and the difficult moments of life we endure and how, even in the midst of our enemies, God calls us to a table of refreshment that He has prepared. Here He restores, nourishes and strengthens us so that His life continues to flow into and through us.

1Kings 19:4-9  Elijah, caught in the “land between,” full of self-pity, uncertainty and bewilderment, runs away. An angel of the Lord provides for him “a cake baked on hot stones and a jug of water” and after 40 days of nourishment in the wilderness Elijah hears God’s voice and regains focus and strength to once again be God’s voice to God’s people. 

John 21: 9-14 Peter watched Jesus go to the cross and in those moments denied three times that he knew Jesus.  Days later Jesus calls Peter and the other bewildered disciples, who have returned to their fishing, to come to shore to a “fire of coals and fish laid thereon.”  A table of love, grace, and forgiveness where hope is restored and healing happens.

John 3:1-13 Nicodemus comes, under cover of darkness, to sit with Jesus and ask the hard questions that disturbed his soul and confused his mind. When I have doubts and uncertainty I am encouraged to know that, like Nicodemus, I can come and discuss these with Jesus and not be brushed off or belittled.

When we gather around the table, or simply sit with cup in hand and napkin on our lap, we find ourselves in a place of invitation. We are invited into another’s dwelling place -  or we invite another into ours. This is a place of hospitality and as we offer hospitality to our guests we discover that they gift us with their presence.  As we invite, we too are invited into one another’s inner world of thoughts and feelings, sharing gifts of heart and mind. 

“The purpose of journeying together in spiritual friendship and spiritual community is to listen to one another’s desire for God, to nurture that desire in each other and to support one another in seeking a way of life that is consistent with that desire.  Spiritual friendship is not for advice giving, problem solving and fixing. Rather it is to assist one another in paying attention to the movements of God in our lives through the spiritual disciplines and to support another in responding faithfully to God’s presence.”   [ Ruth Haley Barton, Sacred Rhythms]

The journey was never meant to be taken alone.  Jesus, at the beginning of his ministry chose disciples to “be with Him” in order to “learn from Him” to “do the ministry with Him.” Yet in our frenzied, time-pressured lifestyles do we take the time to consciously develop life-nourishing relationships with fellow travelers?  Do we know the strength and enjoyment that comes from following Jesus together?

Around the table spiritual friendship and community happen. Around the table we become purposefully present to the Spirit of God expressed through the lives of one another and in doing so we follow Jesus together.

As we gather hospitality becomes presence - we become present to one another, to the physical and creative along with the spiritual and emotional. 

God’s divine hospitality is offered to us through His presence in Jesus – the Incarnation and we are called to extend this hospitality to others. As we come together we receive others into our hearts and are blessed. We accept people as they are - not requiring that they be “like us”… we allow them to reveal themselves as they choose…we do not condemn… we value and respect the life of others. Around the table we connect, we relate, we encourage one another, we rejoice in each others joys, weep over their pain, and pray that God’s peace – his wellness will settle over us as the oil of gladness to make our hearts sing and to receive His benediction to give us strength to walk through another day.

God’s hospitality is also shown in Creation.  In the beginning God made a dwelling place for us that was good, harmonious, and peaceful – it was created for our nourishment and joy. Because we are made in God’s image we have the incredible ability to create. I love how God, in the story of the Old Testament, settled His Spirit on the artisans of the tabernacle, giving them the ability to create beauty in a place of worship for all.  I love that the woman in Proverbs 31 not only clothes her household - but clothes them with “scarlet, purple and fine linen.”  God gives us the creative ability to go beyond the ordinary, to be “dynamic expressions of His character” in both how we live and what we create.

I am looking forward to being "Called to the Table" at our Thanksgiving Celebrations because we will be surrounded by family we love and friends new and old whom we seek to love.  We will celebrate creativity as it brings nourishment, warmth and beauty to one another and to God. We celebrate the life of Jesus in the life of others. We affirm and encourage one another and, in the name of Jesus, receive His wisdom and blessing to walk us through the days ahead.

The Divine acts of creativity and presence are experienced as we respond positively to being “Called to the Table.”