Fall Fearless and Fly #4

Fall Fearless and Fly Challenge #4:

Headline Prompt:  Security:  What makes you feel safe and secure?  What rattles your sense of security?  Where do you go for comfort and refuge?

Color Prompt:  Cool colors (blues, greens, violets, etc.) 

Quote Prompt: You can't make a place for yourself in the sun if you keep taking refuge under the family tree.  Helen Keller

I used the colour and headline prompts. I started with a page covered with Chinese writing which I then gessoed (with an inadvertantly blue brush - whoops! At least it fit with the colour scheme :)) and added circles which I find pleasing, comforting even, like the enveloping arms of someone you love.

Next I photoshopped a photo I took a few years ago of a tower, giving it a bluer caste. The tower represents the comfort I find in solitude. When I need to think something through, or just need some space, I come to my art room - not quite a studio yet, but I'm dreaming. It's where I run to.

I added a border to the photo and some tape.

Then the words 'security' and 'safe' and 'comfort' coloured in with Copic markers. 

Thinking about those words led me through the usual places. My home is a safe and secure place for me; a place where I can lock the world out and retreat. But like Carly at True Color I know that it is not the physical building that makes the home but the people - my husband and daughter. They are my home.
My security comes not from riches or possessions but from being loved - by my family, but ultimately by God. I added some verses from Habakkuk: Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. (Habakkuk 3:17-18) And from Psalm 46:1 about God being my refuge and strength, always present in times of trouble.
If we put our trust in riches or in other people and use them as our security, we will be let down at some time. With God as my security I know I stand on solid ground.

At this point I added more circles and some rays with water-soluble oil pastels and the word 'refuge' down the side of the page.

The finishing touches were the definition of security being the freedom from fear, anxiety, danger or threat, and the words 'God, home, family, solitude' - the things which bring security, safety, and comfort; the places I run to when I'm rattled. 

So there you have it - the journey thoughts about security led me on. Why not use the link at the top or the button in the side bar to check out what everyone else thought about this challenge. 

home again!

I have just spent the last five days on Kangaroo Island. KI is a smallish island about 16km off the coast of South Australia. It is one of those places that still has a wilderness feel. There are very few tarmac roads and no traffic lights on the entire island.
Lovely as it was - blue skies, sunshine, seeing koalas and goannas in their natural habitat, beautiful beaches, clear sea - I am glad to be home. It is only when we go away that I realise how central to my prayer life my art room is. Of course, I took a journal with me. Well, two actually. But it just isn't the same. My art room is my sanctuary in so many ways. So I'm glad to be back!

This is the double-page spread in my diary-journal that I did while on KI. I prepped the page before we went away, just adding the words and the small daisy stamps to separate the entries.

This is the what I left on my desk to dry before we went:

The image of the door is a postcard of a painting by Kim Nelson. 

I started to think about doors both open and closed. 

If the door is closed, who closed it? Is it a lost opportunity? Or an end to something completed? Is it a challenge, daring you to open it? Should you pass it by or stop and grab hold of the handle?

If the door is open, you can peer through, catching a glimpse of what could be. Will you step through? Will you take the chance and start on a new path? Or is this a temptation you should resist?

What door stands before you at the moment?

Psalm 23 cont'd

So I'm up to verse 5a - 'You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies...'

This lets me know that no matter what my situation, even if I am surrounded by enemies, God provides for me in a bountiful way. He makes sure that I take time out to be nourished even in the midst of battle.

More of Psalm 23 book

The top two pages have cut-outs that allow each side to show through. I'm already thinking that cut-outs are a pain in the neck! However, I am pushing on with them and hoping that the pages don't look too samey when they some of the same elements.