In the Security of the Womb

watercolor on Fabriano rough 300 lb paper.
It is a rendition of the photo of a baby 'in utero' sucking her thumb.
a portrayal of the comfort and security of the womb.























All great men and women came by way of the womb.
Each human being whose name can be named began as a zygote, grew and developed 'in utero', fashioned and wonderfully made by a loving God. (Psalm 139)

Even Jesus Christ, the Son of God, left heaven, humbled Himself and took on the nature of a man. (Luke 1:31 message to Mary, "You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.")


In Philippians, we see Jesus chose to come to earth by way of the womb...
Phl 2:5
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Phl 2:6
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
Phl 2:7
but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
Phl 2:8
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death–
even death on a cross!

FREE!

So, I chose to do the girl in grave clothes in monotone charcoal.
The watercolor was reserved for the girl's face/eyes and Jesus' hand/arm.
I did this to draw attention to the 'life'.
A slight backgound of cerulean blue draws out the blue of her eyes.

The message is... Jesus desires that we would know Him.
We love Him because He first loved us.
He removes the veil from our eyes, that we might see Him.

The nail scar of His hand speaks of His love for us, that while we were still dead in our sin, He died for us. He paid the price for our sin, so that we can be FREE!
I encourage everyone to receive Jesus.
Tell Him you receive the forgiveness He purchased at the cross.
Ask Him to take your life and fill it with His light and His love.

grave clothes

My son drew this image for me to watercolor paint.

Jesus called Lazarus out of the grave and commanded his grave clothes be removed.

This girl is longing to be free from the grave clothes that bind her. Jesus' hand has removed the clothes from across her eyes. She sees freedom and longs to be free.

Simpson's Beach

Simpson's Beach in pastel,
drawn from a photo taken last August while Billy and I were enjoying an evening walk there.

My new moleskine

We missed Tabby this Christmas so I found a photo of her curled up on Katie's bed.
She is the first painting in my new moleskine.

Live Painting Class on Ustream

Kitchen Art

that's the theme of the online painting demos this week.
Artist Roger Bansemer and his wife Sarah
open their home to international artists to visit virtually while Roger paints in acrylics.
This week, the subjects have been small kitchen arrangements.
Check it out at
http://bansemer.com/painting_live/demonstration.html
demos usually start at 7 pm ET - no set dates, just check in to see if it's on.

Lemons were the first subject covered. I couldn't see the reference lemons so I just found a photo to work with and painted along.

The second session I attended, Roger was painting a radish. I prefered to paint a pomegranate - used the same basic colors. Benefitted from his comments and instructions re: shadow colors and highlights etc for alizaron crimson.
So nice to be painting with other artists. In the chatroom running beside the video screen were artists tuned in from all over the planet, commenting and asking questions. A terrific forum and virtual studio.

homemade journal

One day in October, I read about the 'artist's moleskine' and had to have one!
I bid on one on eBay and didn't win the auction.
So... I decided to try to create a watercolor sketchbook from scratch.

1. Cover from suede I've had for ages, waiting for a project, from a thrift shop skirt.
2. Pages from cheap watercolor paper my daughter gave me for Christmas last year.
3. A suede strip to bind it.

So, I cut the paper... then created the cover by attaching the suede to two layers of paper with spray adhesive. My dear husband took it to the workshop and drilled the holes for the leather strip to bind all the pages together.
Voila.
I love it.

Rusty, the sleepy dog -- Cadbury the chocolate mini rex rabbit

The little pocket in the back cover is great for pencil, pen, etc
This is the last page. Looks like I need a new one.

Katie's Assignment

Yeah! finally my toaster oven!

birchbark chickadee

I've been waiting to try to paint on birchbark again.

Actually, I tried the charcoal pencils first. They just wouldn't work on the surface.

Decided to try the Caran D'ache watersoluble wax crayons.

They worked adequately. I think acrylic would be best.

This wants a black 5X7 frame.

The Guardian for Different Strokes

I love the concept of the Different Strokes blog
where artists all paint a portrayal of the same reference photo.
http://differentstrokesfromdifferentfolks.blogspot.com/

I decided to try this week's photo called 'pedestrians & shadows' (week 10)
I wanted to see the change in the shadows when one of the pedestrian's guardian angel became visible.
You'll have to go to the blog link above to see the reference picture.

The Guardian

Psalm 150:4(b) & 6

"Praise Him with stringed instuments...
Praise the Lord."
Ps 150: 4 & 6

I started this yesterday.

First, I graphited the general picture

Next, I masked off the strings, frets and shoulder strap.

Next,
some lights and darks added to establish the values.

Next step will be to remove the mask and start working the details.

So, just a few more little finishing touches, then it gets matted.

pastels

Got my new pastels in the mail yesterday. I had a box of 15 Rembrandt soft pastels for a while. The new tin is a set of 12 Derwent pencils and sticks.

Pastels are a bit messy to work with,


The colors are spectacular.


I'm finding it difficult to get any detail.


Just working on cheap canvas covered board today.

since August...

I bought some paint on eBay in June and July, in the hope of finding some time and energy to be creative.


By the end of August, I finally got down to the business of actually putting paint on paper.


I painted this one of the old Pictou Lighthouse which burned down a couple of years back.

I also did this portrait of a baby
'in utero'

I've had this concept in my heart for over a year.

It is meant to communicate the voice of the unborn and the reality of their small life and big destiny.


"While yet in the womb, He knew me by my name."

This one is "In Quietness and Trust in your strength"