Sunday Drawings

A Penitent and Humble Seeker

A Penitent and Humble Seeker

"Now was not this exceeding joy?  Behold, this is joy which none recieveth save it be the truly penitent and humble seeker of happiness."

Alma 27:18

This is my painting for the Ninth International Art Competition at the LDS Church History and Art Museum. The theme is "Make Known His Wonderful Works."

I painted this right after Ewan was born and purged a lot of intense and personal feeling into it.  The narrative is about the journey, spanning almost a year, I went on to bring my sweet baby boy into the world.  When I feel like my words are trite and far too simple, that they don't catch the depth of meaning that the image does, I want to put my words in verse.  I asked my dad to read over my poem to help me and all I got from him was that, although beautiful in its sentimentality, it was terrible poetry.  So, the wind out of my sails, but with the desire of a painter to shed meaning on a painting for the viewer's deeper understanding, I am sharing my not-so-great, interminably-unfinished poem.

The Penitent and Humble Seeker

Let me tell you a tale of a mother of three

Her family was as happy as they could be

Though, with kids growing, she dreamed of going

To her studio to paint with time and clarity

In a year her youngest would go to school

The things she will create will be so cool

Oh to perform, take the world by storm

Her life will be so wonderful and full

In two minutes it all came to a halt

Go ahead, lock ambition in the vault

Tears were shed, she stayed in bed

It was all this anonymous zygote's fault

Now this tale turns to a lesson learned

Even though her righteous desires burned

The Lord did know, she needed to grow

A tender softening of heart would be earned

Her daughters bursting with enthusiasm

Sent her heavy heart into a humble spasm

"I'm not being fair," she said with despair

So she prayed light into her spiritual chasm

God gave her light, he filled her mind

With wonderful works line upon line

Ours is a likeness to his kindness

He's teaching us how to be divine

It's a sacred gift to be the one

They trust like the warmth of the sun

To comfort when sad, to forgive when bad

Unconditional love can't be undone

Slipping into the world the boy roared

Up past heavenly heights her joy soared

She fell in love with the gift from above

Happiness only humility can afford

Sunday Drawing

drawing on mat board

(sold)

drawing in sketchbook at church

In the Studio

I am working on a commissioned painting.  Four kids + party hats = super cool.  It's for Christmas... hopefully I'll finish it next week.  This is conditional on whether or not I can put a hold on Valentines and other super cool projects and buckle down!  In the mean time, other painting deadlines are creeping up and nipping at my heals.  

So here is yesterday's creative distraction:

 I saw this idea here.  She used pictures of castles out of books, I thought I could ink/watercolor on parchment paper and come up with something lovely.  Indeed I did.  The drawing is an illustration of a Brothers Grimm tale called The Glass Mountain.  I like things that glow.  (Note the battery powered candle.) Now, back to work.

P.S.  Did you know that my right side bar has pages with all my paintings from 2010 and 2011?

I let my website lapse while I work on a redesign, so I put archives up here for now.

On Blogging

A new year, a fresh start.  

Happy 2012!  

I'm not a fan of resoluteing, but I am fond of goal setting.  On my running list of goals is the big B. Blogging has alluded me this past year or so.  I gave myself that year to be in la la baby land.  This is where I still reside, true, but it is time to add some professional productivity into the mix.  The thing is, I write blog posts in my head daily.  I even take pictures for them.  I must confess I have about a dozen drafts, half finished posts that will never see the pixels of the screen.  I'm not about to publicly dedicate myself to 365, (what? it's already January 18th?) to 347 (leap year? ghat) 348 posts in 2012.

In my aged wisdom I have learned two things.  One.  Don't set yourself up for disappointment.  Make goals reasonable and flexible.  And be ok with doing your best, with a heart full of gratitude for what you were able to do. Consistency and persistence? Yes and yes.  But it's not black and white.  In this great balancing act there will be weeks to crank out work, weeks where your work is a 5th grade science project and a 2nd grade book report, soccer tournaments and a dance recital.  There is an ebb and flow, roll with it. Paramount to my happiness is to lay my head on my pillow at night with a sigh and a smile of satisfaction for a day well spent.  Not a list of all that I was not able to accomplish, and what I will not become because of it.


Well earned wisdom number Two.  I love organization. This weekend we cleaned out and reorganized our entire garage and playroom.  I am still giddy about it.  (It was really hard work, Gavin called me a slave driver and the girls only helped after I put all their toys in garbage bags to take to D.I..  Lots of tears.  But so worth it.  I really appreciated their hard work, they know how to make a mama happy.) Back to the point, the key to my success in any endeavor is to have a well mapped plan.  So here is it: Three posts a week, one Sunday drawing, a midweek post about what is going on in my studio (hopefully paintings, possibly something awesomely crafty), and thoughts on a topic (yes, these posts will have pictures! You know that reading text is always optional).  Also important, I've designated a specific blogging time in my daily schedule.  Now, to execute.  Wish me luck, cut me some slack, here's to a super 2012!

Sunday Drawing(...s)

"No, old Rinkrank, I will not open the door for you."

My dad gave me a pile of mat board innards.

They are fun to draw on.  Very frame-able.

I suppose I could sell these.  Let me know if you are interested.

Be mine?  Second favorite holiday.

Just around the corner.

(sold)

 Parades.  I love them almost as much as puppetry.
(sold)