Control

It's easy for us to react to things out of pain, anger, distress, bitterness.

But we have control over how we react.

The left side of this page represents our feelings and the chaos of what can be said and done against us. The right side is white space - clean, serene, calm, peaceful.

I want to react out of the peace inside me not to the barbs aimed at me.

Take Me Deeper - week 8

John 13:34-35 this week - a new commandment, to love one another.

On the surface this can seem to be a very simple idea - love one another. How hard can that be?

But it isn't 'love one another as long as the other person loves you back.'

It isn't 'love one another if the other person deserves it.'

It isn't 'love one another if you feel like it.'

No. This is a command, not an option, and it includes those who are hard to love. But thankfully loving someone doesn't have to mean that you have to like them. Loving them means showing them the care that is due to another human being because they are made in the image of God.

What to do?

Just… contemplating.

Flourishing or floundering?

Is my hand reaching out to stretch and grow?

Or am I reaching out for help?

Reminded of e. e. cummings, am I waving or drowning?

Some days it is hard to tell.

Overwhelmed

I started this page in landscape, but halfway through felt the urge to turn it around. It certainly looks different when you do that. Suddenly the page was top-heavy, so enter the tag.

This page also started out as shades of grey, but then the blue crept in, which was OK because it was a blue/grey. Then the yellow popped up. What's a girl to do? So I went all out with the shiny tape as well.

It all turned out a bit busy, which is kind of how my head feels right now.

15 minute page

Inspired by Rae Missigman, I thought it was about time to do another video. She regularly sits down, sets a timer, and does a page within the time limit with only the supplies that are within reach. A really good discipline. I spent a lovely half hour watching her videos.

So here is my own video of a quick page made with just a few supplies. The face was already done and I knew I wanted to use it, but I wasn't sure how. Putting the camera on applies a certain pressure. As my camera is a time-lapse one, all the editing and speeding up is done in-camera. I can't alter things afterwards. So I don't want to spend too long deciding what I am going to do. The pressure is on to just get on with things and not think too much about it.

Although it is a pressure, it can also be freeing. The page might not turn to be one I like, but it provides an oasis of peace just putting colour and pattern on the page.

Whispers...

It is difficult when people talk about you rather than to you.

If you have a problem with me, talk to me.

Am I really that scary?

And when others talk about someone to you, direct them back to the one they have a problem with.

Nip gossip in the bud so that it doesn't produce poisonous fruit.

Take Me Deeper - week7

February's theme is love and the reference for this week is Matthew 22:34-40

But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets." (ESV)

 These two things are inextricably linked. Jesus didn't pick just one thing to answer the lawyer with, and Jesus wasn't one to waste words.

The word 'depend' can also mean 'hang'. If we love God but not each other, do we really love God? If we don't  love God AND love each other, we hang askew.

So love that neighbour, even when it's difficult, and hang straight.

Old technique rediscovered

It's always fun to rediscover old techniques. I had some glossy paper sitting on my desk and remembered something I used to do to pattern paper for making cards.

Out came the Versamark ink pad and the stamps.

First you stamp a pattern with the Versamark (a 'watermark' ink pad).
Then, using a sponge, smear on ink from an ink pad. The Versamark acts as a resist.
As a third layer, stamp using the colour you used for the background. It comes up darker than the background layer and so adds depth.

I guess you could also use gel medium, gesso, or clear embossing powder as a resist instead. Must try them out for comparison...

Art Journal Journey

I started this page with spray paints and flower masks. But then, for some reason, I just wanted to put a face on it. I grabbed the nearest thing I had on my desk, which was a stick of water-soluble graphite. With a postcard for reference, I sketched this face. I don't often do men's faces, and I usually just work out of my head, so this was a bit different and fun to do. The postcard had very strong light and shade patterns which worked well with the medium. Once the lines were in place, I ran a wet paintbrush over them.

The images are incongruous, but I don't care :)

The theme this month over at Art Journal Journey is birds, beasts, and humans, so I shall be linking over there.

Inspired by Dina Wakley

Whenever I'm feeling in a rut, I pull one of my books off the shelf and look for inspiration. This time it was Art Journal Freedom by Dina Wakley. I love Dina's pages, especially her use of white space.

My word for the year is flourish. At first it felt like an odd word; a 'just go do it' word. Now, one month in, I can see that flourishing takes work, especially if there are parts of your life that are not providing the ideal conditions for growth. Flourishing is about making sure that you get everything you need to grow no matter what phase your life is in.

Flourishing takes work.

The page below ended up with arrows pointing in all directions, and reflects how I feel at the moment.

This photo gives a better view of the shiny foil:

Take Me Deeper - week 6

For February the theme is love, and this week, God's love.

John 3:16 is such a well-known verse and so familiar that we can easily gloss over it. Sure, God loves the world. Of course He does, He made it!

But how does it feel if we say: For God so loved you that He gave His only Son…

It can be a bit uncomfortable, can't it? Why is it so difficult for us to believe that we are loved?

It is easy for us to know objectively that we are loved; but to feel subjectively that we are loved can be a different ballgame.

But even if you don't feel it, it is so.

You are loved.

Not because of who you are, but because of who He is.

Circle Journal - journal

So, the first journal has arrived in the circle journal for 2015, from Dawn. Yay! Her theme is peace.

This page has lots of layers, although it looks simple on the surface of it. I wanted to keep the lightness as that speaks to me of peace. I like the way the greaseproof paper gelli-print goes across the page break, linking the two pages.

Off to the right a tag is attached to the top of the page and that is where I put my thoughts. Here are some close-ups of it, front and back:

And here it is attached with ribbon:

And this is Dawn's journal, with covers, end pages, and her pages on peace:

Loving this blingy cover! Unfortunately, you can't feel all the lovely texture through the blogosphere, but let me tell you, it's fabulous.

A quick link...

Frequent visitors to this blog will know that I am practicing my lettering with Joanne Sharpe's book, The Art of Whimsical Lettering. So when I saw this work on the Colossal website, I was bowled over. Check it out! (Sorry, can't seem to post a photo) The photos are of experiments with 3D calligraphy and they are fantastic!

Having no idea...

I often start a page with no idea where it is going. This page built up with layers of circles (surprise!) through stencils and gelli-prints. I was liking the white space and didn't want to add any more, so the page sat for days. It was one of those pages that I didn't want to spoil. And when I had stared at it I don't know how many times, I realised that I had no idea what to do with the page to finish it. 

So that's what I wrote :)

I've put this page in a frame to remind myself that even when I don't know what I am doing, it can turn into something beautiful, because God has it all in hand.