Tag Archives: acrylic paintings

This Global Sabbatical

Hi, All. I have been primarily a lurker, as this has been a time of reading, listening and learning for me. But today I thought I would share a little something from my own heart (not someone else’s forward!) I believe that God would have me wait until my frequent ponderings become real knowings, before I share. So…here’s a fresh little piece of what I’ve come to see and know personally in my own life, for whoever should care to read it:

In this Global Sabbatical, (which will open the way for a World-Wide Awakening,) I’ve discovered some real blessings. One of them is the removal of the “bookends,” in my old, everyday life, that I always got bent out of shape about! These would be the things/obligations/ chores/appointments/duties that forced a temporary stop to my creative activities. Mind you, it is that I REGARDED it as a forced stop, and that was my error! In reality, it was just a shift into a different form of creativity (that I didn’t “enjoy” as much…But that too is my choice! I COULD enjoy it if I choose to. It ALL comes down to choosing how we will respond to whatever presents itself, none of which is “behind God’s back.”

So…in this global sabbatical, everything is changing. And I sincerely trust that it is for the Good. Life’s activities morph into each other without bookends. It’s a time of reprieve. Of grace. Of transformation. Of shifting tides. Of fluid motion, rather than the awkward stops and starts that became our routine lives. A time that affords greater sensitivity to others and a more delicate response to them. A more loving response to all of life. No bookends. Week days blend into weekends, each day initiated and closed by the daily unique glories of sunrise and sunset, blazing across the skies! Each night graced beneath the deepest blue velvet sky, resplendent with trillions of sparkling jewels… the heavenly lights that declare the glories of our magnificent Creator! And we have the gift of Time: to see, to appreciate, and applaud the One who sees all, loves all, and is all-faithful to meet us where we are. Wherever that may be, God is there, loving us and reaching into our hearts for agreement. That place, that possibility-point of union is Love. And it is my choice whether or not to be the love I long to see.
In Christ, this and so much more is made possible! In Christ, I am liberated to choose to love in every circumstance: abundance and lack, health and illness, joy and sorrow, strength and weakness, wisdom and ignorance, patience and exasperation, understanding and confusion…life and death. I am learning to be content in all situations…and to live His love in and through them. And what I have not yet learned to do I am in the process of learning…which gives YOU a great opportunity to exercise patience with me! Haha! We can rejoice in our weaknesses, knowing that God’s own joy is our strength! Knowing that His Love meets us where we are, no matter who we are.

We will all come through this changed and changing…renewed, revived. Awake. We will all, not only those who have passed on “to a broader vision,” awaken in a new place. We all have the opportunity to experience a death to what is counterproductive in our lives. It is a global sabbatical which will fling open the gates to a World-Wide Awakening. I truly believe this. I believe that what the enemy has intended for evil, God will turn into Good. And “the enemy” is NOT each other; is not a leader, a party or a country.

I fully believe that every tragedy can be turned into a triumph, if we allow God to change our own hearts. I have seen this on many levels and scales in my own life. My prayer is for us to truly SEE whatever we are looking at, and LEARN from it by being willing to allow God’s love to change our own hearts. How can 2 Chronicles 7:14 come to pass without the first condition being met…by us? DO we humble ourselves and pray and turn from our selfish ways? How can this even be possible when we point our collective finger, fault find and degrade/disgrace the powers that be? How can God heal a land, for instance, that is ripped in two by hatefulness, deceit, judgmental-ism and disrespect? I wonder these things, sitting out here on my small green dot in the wild blue sea.

Prayer levels the playing field, places everyone on the common ground of child-likeness (not childish-ness. The two are very different!) Jesus said, “You must be as a child to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” It is in this simple position of being a child who truly doesn’t know the answers, but is willing to be taught, that I come to this page. This trying time is a great opportunity for us all to give God permission to change us into people who look much more like who He created us to be in the first place. For what it’s worth, I believe it. May it be so! Selah…..

some new paintings: Tinies!

“Remembering When…” (acrylic on 4X4 inch stretched canvas)

Jesse and Elise (son & daughter-in-love who live in California) got me these CUTE little 4X4 inch canvasses! I’ll call em “tinies.” The idea popped into my head to try my hand at some scenes from days gone by…before our volcano awakened and ate our only Town, Plymouth. So this, above, is the second one. (The first one sold right away, but maybe I could ask the folks who bought it to send me a jpg of it, just so I can have the collection here…you know…for the fun of it.)

These are not terribly time-consuming. Well, truthfully, learning how to paint tiny has been taking some some time to figure out. But my hope is that they will become not very time consuming, and so warrant their very affordable price tag. I might here add that buildings are so not my fancy to paint. At least that’s what I thought…until I started these. We change, don’t we? That’s a great thing about humans!

Here’s another Tiny:

“The Island House” (acrylic on 4X4 inch stretched canvas)

This is of a lovely building that was last known as The Island House,in Plymouth. It was a lovely art gallery and gift shop. Our little colonial Town was so much more special and pretty, really, than we all probably realized, back before it completely disappeared under meters and meters of wet ash that rumbled down the flanks of the volcano….burying all.

BeHold!

 

                           BeHold!   

      (acrylic on canvasPrivate Collection)

This is a painting of my three darling peeps (aka the grandchildren). I completely repainted, with different colours, the sky, the sea and them several times, trying to get it to feel right. That is, I suppose, one of the perks of acrylics that you definitely don’t get with watercolours! The original photo that Sunny took had a coppery looking sea and sky glow. Although I tried (and tried,) I couldn’t get it to translate to satisfaction, so I ended up changing the look altogether. I hope it works.

Underground River – acrylic on canvas (SOLD)

 Underground River

 (Acrylic on canvas – sold)

This is a place, in my actual dream world, that I have visited many times through the years. There is always a mysterious something about it, which is a little unnerving. Yet I am always delighted to find myself there in my dream, and I think to myself, “Oh,wow! I’m HERE again!” The approach to the place is never exactly the same,so I’m going along a path and suddenly I realize I am there and that an adventure awaits me. It’s like a cue to pay attention to what will be a very interesting dream. This painting is the first in what I am calling my Dreamscape Series. I am new to acrylics. You can tell too, as I use the paint here in much more of a sparing, watercolour manner, as I’m more accustomed to water colour. But…with every new medium and piece I learn a little more!