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CONGRATULATIONS SCOTT BUSHNELL, happy winner of the "FAITH" ATC!! Make a comment now and win an Artist Trading Card with an original artwork!

 

DECOMPRESS AND GET REFURBISHED

I know, I know, it’s not exactly artwork this time.  These are my brushes that have been put through the ringer.  They tirelessly worked their bristles to the bone for me… for years!  Somehow, I never thought about these brushes as the vital part of what I create.  So, today and for the next several days, they’re going to sit in a bath of brush solution to free them from the corrosion that have accumulated all these years in assisting me to create and put into paper all these pictures in my head.

As the years go by, life happens.  We work hard to live comfortably.  However, if you pick that word apart, does it really serve up what we intended for it to do for us?  What does comfort really mean anyway?  I can attest that all those years I gave up my all for a job day to day, feeling guilty if I was giving it my 100% just to find out in the end that I was really expendable and/or I get a watch with the company’s logo on it.  Wait, it has a gold face! 

Like these brushes, every year, corrosion accumulates.  We never find enough time in our very busy day to take a deep breath, decompress, to take the time to love ourselves.  I tell you, now that I am nearing the age “up there” it is not worth it.  If I can do it all over again, I would have said NO more often, given myself time to do art at least 2 hours a day, not worrying about the big mess I would have to leave on the workspace while I go back to work or tend to the kids. 

Before you can truly say you love someone, you have to love yourself first.  Stay balanced.  Give yourself to others but not before giving yourself to YOU.  Take time to read a book, spend 30 minutes to an hour per day with your eyes closed just listening to your favorite music.  Go see a movie alone, if you dare!  You’re so much worth than you realize and you will be happier for it!  Just like these brushes will thank me after they’ve been de-corroded (it’s a word now!) and reconditioned to serve me for more years to come. 

Have a beautiful week, God bless you and love one another!!!! OK! I CAN'T STAND IT!  I HAD TO ADD ARTWORK :)

TOUR OF THE LITTLE HAPPY COCOON

SINISTER - APPROACH LIFE WITH EYES WIDE OPEN

We all come across people whom we trust but only to find out about the deceit later.  Be wary of them.  This artwork depicts the man as looking very nomal but is he?  Look closely.

The background music is Sinister by my daughter Tara Alesia feat Don Prahfit (all rights reserved).  For more info, email her at taraawalker@gmail.com

SERENDIPITY

Serendipity means a happy accident.  I call it the "OMG! I forgot I had this" moment when you find that something you've been looking for all this time, or that one that you had forgotten you had.  I am a pack rat for memories.  I don't keep clothes, or old mags, etc. but I do hold on to my past paintings, memorabilias, photos, favorite art project tools. 

Last Saturday, I was organizing my art studio when I found this painting I had done in 2004.

It was the time when I had a few hours of quiet so I revisited painting again since I have 2 kids and a full time job which pretty much took all of my time.  I had dreams of one day owning a white horse, lol!  Since I couldn't at the time, I poured my impulsiveness of maybe going out and getting a horse to keep in my little bitty backyard.  Then after the painting was done, it was stowed away between the pages of my canvas sheets to be rediscovered today, almost 10 years later.  It was serendipitous. 

Every now and then God gives us serendipitous moments.  For me, it's His reminder that sadness, pain, sickness, or any other negative events that we are faced with is not the end.  It isn't over.  Why? Because HE already said so.

Have a great day and love one another....

FORGIVENESS

How many of us, while in a conversation say, “I’ve forgiven so and so,” knowing we haven’t?  I have… many times.  How many of us really know what it means to forgive?  I do.  I won’t hash out ever dirty laundry that has happened to me resulting from one particular person in the past.  This person was a special someone to me.  We had a wonderful and wholesome daughter we share.  But like some relationships, this didn't succeed.

My experience with this man shaped a part of who I am today.  Although it was not always rosy, looking back, had events not happened, I wouldn’t know how to forgive today.  He is stricken with the worst cancer ever, pancreatic.  He is a very young 52 years old.  Any type of cancer is awful, but one that cannot be removed because it can kill other major organs is hopeless.  I don't believe he is ready to die and I don’t blame him, who does?   The uncertainty of life after death is debilitating.  So one of the things left to do is to accept the inevitable and ask to be forgiven for past transgressions. 

While sitting next to his hospital bed, he told me, “You were a good woman to me and I’m sorry for everything.”  Instantly, I blurted out, it’s ok, we all make mistakes, don’t worry about it.  But thinking about it later, I asked myself, did I really mean that or did I just say it because I knew it would make him feel better?  Even if the answer was instant, reflecting on it, and seeing this man sick and in the hospital, sincerely asking for forgiveness, I did.  I sincerely did forgive him.  Suddenly, all the tears, frustration, and anger I felt for him in the past seemed futile.  You mean I could’ve skipped all those negative emotions had I known that he would ask to be forgiven?  That can only be done by someone with special powers, I'm only human after all!  Or can it? Maybe we could actually do it, if we could only visualize an apology 25 years from now.  But what if I never saw him again because we didn’t’ have a child and avoided him just to find out later that he had passed away?  How could I have truly forgiven him? Now I realize that it doesn’t matter if anyone has asked you face to face to forgive him/her.  If you know deep inside you only hurt yourself when you carried all of this dark negative energy for another, why not just truly forgive all who had wronged us?  Who cares?  Vengeance is God’s job, not for ours to carry out.  After all, God forgives so who are we to be less than forgiving?  Can we really challenge ourselves with this?  Just sayin...

Be blessed and love each other and enjoy your week...

Where do you get your spiritual feeding?

Check it out www.fccchurch.com! New post tomorrow follow me! Love you all!

I'M WORRIED....

Wow WORRY, what a funny word it is.  It seems no matter how much we try, we feel we can’t help but worry about the slightest little thing.  All the “what-ifs” we are inundated with, fueled by our fears.

It seems whenever I listen to wise people, namely Pastor Bill, the most popular worry story I hear about is the one where the disciples were on a boat with Jesus (Matthew 8:23-24).  For those of you who don’t feel like pulling out their bibles (*hand raised*), it is the one where Jesus was sleeping in the cheapie little boat in the middle of rough seas with his disciples who were beginning to worry about the storm that was a-comin’!  Hey, I am a  non-swimmer admittedly, I know what that must’ve felt. No, as a matter of fact, you wouldn’t even catch me in the middle of rough seas in a little boat, oh no.   According to PBill, like the disciples, we all experience the levels of realities when worry and fear well within us.  First, with unexpected problems, the unknown.  That’s a biggie!  What if ____ happens? And then when it hits us, the overwhelming circumstances that come into our lives, we’re not prepared for situations, who wants to sit and mull about them anyway?  Then when it happens, we oftentimes are afraid to ask for help.  It only makes sense that the sooner we ask for help, the less worried we will be, correct?  But oftentimes at this level, we feel alone. 

However, here’s the biggest lesson I learned today.  Questioning your fears.  Why are you so afraid?  Worry doesn’t fix anything because worry doesn’t work for you, it works ON you.  I am the first to admit I am a worry-wart.  No matter how much I try not to worry, knowing my kids are out there in the cruel rough world is a total nail-biter.  Perhaps one day I’d get over it, maybe not completely, but at least enough to relax.  I’m a work in progress, people! 

Funny, in Genesis, when Adam hid after eating of the apple, God was calling out to him, Adam, where are you?  Did God know where he was? Duh, yeah!  But why did God call out to him?  Because he wanted Adam to face the reality of what he had done.  Why does God question us even though he knows everything about us, past, present or future?  It’s because he wants us to discover our own answers.   Jesus knows our worries always grow out of our fears.  If there is constant anxiety in our lives… we fear.  God inside of us is that hope of glory.  Are you going to constantly run away from your fears or live by faith?  This is the homework PB gave us to think about.  When you have a fear that is creating anxiety in your life, face it.  Write it down.  Look at it in black and white,  then after that sentence, add the phrase, “but Jesus said..,”  Instead of wallowing in your fears, increase your faith in the middle of that storm.  Turn your heart towards the solution instead of your fears.  There is no situation in our lives that God has no CONTROL over!  You can’t fix the problem, yes, that’s true, but take your focus out of that and look at Jesus in the boat with you. 

In Matthew 6:34, it says, “So don’t be anxious about tomorrow.  God will take care of your tomorrow too. Live one day at a time.”  “Give your worries and cares to God, for he cares about what happens to you.” 1 Peter 5:7… Look it up, I didn’t make that up…Just sayin… :)



****PLEASE COMMENT BELOW**** I'M HAVING A GIVEAWAY.  I WILL CHOOSE THE BEST COMMENT AND SEND YOU THE FAITH ARTWORK YOU SEE ABOVE IT IS A MINIATURE MIXED MEDIA ORIGINAL ART IN AN ARTISTS TRADING CARD!!!

CREATEMIXEDMEDIA.COM SUBMISSION FOR THE LOVE OF NUMBERS - THIS WEEK

Here are my art submssion series for the week of February 12 through the 18th.  Please join my blog and make a comment on my artwork.  Thank you in advance.

COME WATCH ME PAINT THIS BLUE HAIRED GIRL!

TOO BAD FOR YOU IF YOU CAN'T TAKE A JOKE

I love this line.  It is my ex-mother in law's line and it tickles everytime I think about her saying it in her Boston accent!  So it became one of my favorite mantras as it embodies most of who I am.  I don't mean to say that sarcastically, but yeah, I've been labeled sarcastic before, one of the nuance traits I have which actually makes me human.

The reason this came to mind is that I am aware that I can't please everyone. I'm sure deep inside we all know that truth, right?  There will be people who love us and then there are others... hmmm... not so much.  As I have said in my past blog, I wasn't put on this earth to please people.  Ya gotta love me or not love me, period.  It's all good. 

As much as I agree that no man is an island, I also concur that co-dependency is unhealthy.  Whether it be with a spouse, a child, a parent or a friend, happiness is not measured by how anyone perceives you in your best light.  It is virtually impossible to achieve as we were all born with so many imperfections.  As long as we can accept and be ok in ourselves about them, the faster we can progress in this life and grow and maybe be able to work with those imperfections to somehow dilute them.

I know at least one person who may not think the world of me, but that's ok. When this person hides behind other people to sheild them from their truth, it is a losing battle for him/her.  In the past few days, watching a dear friend stricken with cancer and how it affected him and his friends and family,  made me realize how precious and fragile life is.  We are given one chance, one chance to make a great mark on this earth to make the most out of what was given to us.  God is not idle.  He's omnipresent.  When Jesus said Love One Another, the true meaning of that is even if you have enemies and people who don't like you, it's ok, forgive them and move on.  Revenge is not for you to have, it is reserved for God.  God will eventually move in that person's life which may compel them to make it all right, just know that He will so let him take the wheel.  Then be free!