The last day of May Commitment is a faith unswerving unchanged by the tempermental tide or circumstance a choice of hope undeserving standing firm in truth versus sin's deceptive dance
I've been reading about commitment as expressed in Micah... Micah 7:7 ..."But as for me I watch in hope (I anticipate, I look for) for the Lord. I wait (I trust, I choose to be steadfast, I make no plans of my own, I hold fast in neutral waiting for His lead) for God my Savior. My God will hear me (I choose to stand in his truth and His promises, He is faithful always)."
As I read the whole story of Micah and how he deals with the land he lives in giving into sin, I'm struck by the last verse. It's the one that tips my swelling tears of tenderness toward Micah's struggle and faith in the Lord to an outpouring of gratitude to our merciful God, "You will be true to Jacob and show mercy to Abraham as you pledged an oath to our fathers in days long ago." The Lord is sweet to leave us with these words of encouragement. He unfolds the story of Micah's commitment in this book to this final note reminding us of His commitment to us. Only such a merciful, loving God can do that.
Do you know Him in that way? Do you know the depth of His love for you? Do you know how much He delights in you? What does standing in hope look like in your life?
Springtime............. Ah ha! I spotted some good paintings tonight! I was watching Private Practice on television and eyed some nice pieces in the background. Sometimes I can feel paintings percolating to the top of my creative cup...like a perfect brew being prepared in the waiting.
I'm getting ready to paint again.
27 February 2009 Abiding still These sweet words of the Lord spoke to me on abiding evermore..."Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, "This is the way, walk in it." Is 30:21 What a sweet picture...that He would lean in, whisper in our ear and tell us where to place each step. He loves us intimately and completely. He delights in our every decision made with him. Lord, may that be evertrue in my heart, open my ears to hear your words for me. Hush the noise and distractions of this world and atune my heart to yours...like clay on the potter's wheel, center my heart and my desires to your will and desires for my life. I turn over the keys, I give you the reins once again and ask you to be primary in my life. Let distractions fall away...give me a vision of you to inspire a dogged, passionate, running pursuit of you...like the song says, "You can have all this world, give me Je-e-e-sus..."
20 February 2009 - Committed to the Call Just went to a rockin' David Crowder Band concert and it was dern good stuff. I ended up knowing a lot more songs than I thought I did, but at the core of it all was really great worship...I stood back and saw the light bathing over outstretched hands reaching for something higher than themselves, reaching beyond this place to where He already sees us. I wasn't much in the mood for a concert and truth be told, work still hung over my head. But, I clearly felt the Lord calling me to be there, freeing my night just to be there. So, I asked the Lord to show me what He had in store for me, to use this concert, this night and everything to show me more of Him. And as He would have it, after a hurried quick-change rush, I was rewarded with a sweet time of worship. I'm still chewing on that...how God rewards obedience. I didn't feel like going, but feelings are fickle and His convictions are not. (Isn't it a delight to know that God is a God of decisiveness, He is not a God of confusion?!! I heart that about Him!) The whole concept of obedience coming first and blessings following has turned my world literally right-side up lately. A wise woman and friend of mine and I have been talking about the importance of being committed to 'the process' with the Lord, that being resolute to follow whatever it is the Lord has for us before we even know what it is He asks is more important than anything else. It's 'buying in' before we know the cost... Romans 6:9-13, Paul writes: "For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has master over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God (lordship). In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus (separated from sin, set apart to God). Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God (complete sacrifice to Him), as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness (surrender). " (emphasis added.)
The lyrics of one of my favorite songs was illuminated to me in a new way this week by singer Kim Hill whom I discovered at a Women of Faith concert years ago. I've listened to it hundreds of times, but this week it captured the moment....Committed to the Call "I hear his voice and I'm convicted, (my ears are tuned to Him) to rise above the status quo He's asking me to live and listen (to live and listen...actions supporting Truth) And to let His will move my soul His holy spirit beckons I can't help but answer I am committed to the call I vow to walk in blind faith (show me every step, Lord) Willing to sacrifice it all (...better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere...) To reflect amazing grace I am committed to the call (sold out no matter what) I will revel in the Son's light (to sit in the warmth of) And let His love come shining through (may others see You in me) I will see life from the true vine (grounded in Truth) And bear the frut of the holy spirit (rewarding obedience) I'm drawn by words of wisdom (Lord, make me wise) Whispering my name." (He's the divine romancer, the woo-er of my soul)
How would we live our lives differently if we were committed to Him before we even knew what He was going to ask of us?
---------------------------------------------------------------- PREGNANCY CARE CENTER PROJECT Follow the progress of the custom paintings and artwork made for the Pregnancy Care Center in Springfield, Mo in our blog below. The most recent entry is on top so to read about the project in chronological order, scroll to the bottom to read about the whole project from bottom to top! September 29 The last of the paintings was installed at PCC today- hooray! The paintings for the waiting room were revised- we added a new painting (on the right) to coordinate with the other work better. close up of above painting:
This smaller painting was made for an office to hang on a green wall:
This modern piece was made for an office:
These serene landscapes were made for an office and nearby hallway:
September 22 These are all the paintings created for the new Pregnancy Care Center so far. It was so exciting to see them hung in the new space! This has been such a wonderful way to be a blessing to the staff and clients at PCC- we're so glad to be a part of it. This past Sunday before installing the work Pastor Ben Pilgreen at Second Baptist Church reminded us that we each God-given gifts to share. Each gift we've been given is meant to edify and build others up in Christ, "What God put in you He wants to draw out of you so others' lives are enhanced and the Kingdom of God is furthered." My prayer is that this work, these paintings do that for the clients, staff and leadership at PCC! As he talked further about the first century church in Acts, he asked, "What role are you going to play in this community?" I'd like to be a painter/artist, encourager, teacher, and cheerleader please, God!! What a thrill indeed!
Please send us an email if you have any comments about the work or project at
'Sunrise Bellies' clay wall boxes installed in reception area: They're so cheerful- I just love them!
main entry paintings:
sandscape:
main hallway paintings: squares and circles installed in office: squares and circles in another office:
Tornadoes installed in client room:
Conference room paintings (oils) I painted these 3 years ago. I've always liked these and I'm glad they have a great new home!: new landscape triptych installed in an office (this is one of my favorites, too):
painting installed in abstinence office: These have been installed in the education room on the lower level of the building: 'Jewel of My Eye' installed in an office:
These are hung in the kitchen: close up of clay wall boxes in kitchen:
Please pray for us as we finish the remaining paintings for the project, for the naming of each painting, and for God's anointing in completing the artist statements for each piece. Thank you!
September 1 The new canvases arrived in town so I could begin to work on the remaining paintings. I worked in both the clay and painting studio this weekend to keep all the projects moving along. One of the clay 'Sunrise Bellies' cracked on the side so I have to remake it. Each canvas needed to be primed twice and then hanging brackets, wire and bumper pads had to be added to each one. (Thanks to Anna and Deb who helped to prepare all the canvases to paint!)
August 27 I'm shifting to start working on pottery for the public spaces and maybe some surprises for the staff. The work will have to be made, dried, trimmed and sanded, bisque fired to 1800 degrees, glazed (similar to painting) and then glaze fired to 2300 degrees. I worked in the studio with a friend Ta-ta-ta-Tanja tonight making three of the six clay wall boxes for the south wall in the reception area. They're called 'Sunrise Bellies'- it's so cheerful and cozy!! It supports the mission of PCC and alludes to the excitement of the impending birth. photos of making the wall boxes in sequence: tracing a rough pattern of the clay to go in the plaster mold after placing the clay in the mold, it needs to be trimmed at the edge I installed clay supports and let them dry. After about an hour in front of the fan, the mold can be taken out of the mold. As the wall box dries upside down, I poke 2 holes in each side. They will later be used to install wire to hang the piece on the wall. Because the wire is hidden the wall box will appear to be floating on the wall. I flipped the wall boxes over and traced the pattern for 'Sunrise Bellies' I created this mold a couple of years ago as a way to make uniform wall pieces to hang in small groupings of 3, 4, 6, 9, etc. I'm really excited to see them completed and hung together and it will add a nice variety of texture to the space while tying in with the shapes in the paintings.
I've finally ironed all the wrinkles to add photos of the project to the website (thanks Deb and Scott3floors! It's been a team effort!), so stay tuned for photos soon!
Faith Taking Form in Art I was just reading Christianity Today SEPT 2008 the Creating Culture article. New York visual artist Makoto Fujimura says, "I advocate for art in the church, and in the art world I'm advocating for the gospel. I need words to do that." He's and essayist sharing his faith in words and images. We need more people like that; I'm encouraged to know people like that. I still hold fast to the notion that the church, and maybe Christians overall, can do more to embrace artists. We limit ourselves and the depth of worship when we don't include art more. My church does a lot to reach out to artists, but I think there's still a culture in the church where people expect to see just portraits of Jesus in a Christian art show. There are endless way to express faith and a life abiding in Christ that don't have to literally be a painting of the face of Jesus or a cross. Expand the boundaries of what we consider to be Christian art and the canvas will be endless! I'm looking forward to articulating that in the body of paintings I'm working on.
August 24 We're waiting for more canvases to arrive via shipment so I can begin the remaining paintings. I do have two canvases in the studio right now, but I'm spending my creative time sketching the final works. I have to pace myself to complete the whole project and give my neck, back and arms a rest before working in the stuio again. I have about 1/3 of the work done so far and it's been exhilarating! I'm working on writing a bit about each painting to show how each work embodies the mission of PCC and the love of Christ. I hope to work with a photographer to photograph the paintings and have a coffee table style book printed of the paintings with writings. That would be a fantastic way to finish and record the project.
August 21 We installed paintings today. We started with pieces that the PCC already had in the waiting room of the old building and new pieces given to them by Decorize. Installed lower level outside of elevator on orange wall (this is my favorite from this series so far): waitingroom-installed
close up of Warm Floating and Warm Space (oils):
August 18 A dear friend and incredibly talented artist friend of mine, Lisa, has helped me look at the paintings to determine what needs to be changed and tweeked to make them better. She's in Iowa, so I email her photos and then we talk about them on the phone. I went into the studio tonight to make some changes we talked about and I think the pieces are stronger for it. Thank you, Lisa! Now I cannot sleep because I'm thinking about the work.
August 17 I was so excited to begin painting that I worked and worked this weekend to get 6 paintings outlined in 2 days. I started with strong sketches so my time in the studio was spent outlining the work. Many other times when I begin painting in the studio the painting comes together while working on it; it evolves to become an outpouring of an expression or what God has laid on my heart and how I'm working that out. This time, I spent a lot of time praying and sketching before going into the studio so that my time was spent painting a pre-planned work, not 'finding' a piece as the painting evolves. Using this method I am able to paint a lot more paintings in a short amount of time (which is the name of the game for this project!) Please pray that I would be able to 'shut off' thinking about visual solutions and be able to sleep at night. Canvases ready to go!:
August 16 I've met with the interior designer Brooke, and Cindi and Denise at PCC to talk about how to complete the project this week. First we toured the new PCC facility to see the colors they selected and spaces that need artwork. We determined that the public areas and client rooms need paintings first. My goal is to complete 7 paintings by September 2 so that the clients are welcomed to the facility. I'll make 15 more for phase 2, the public open house date of October 18. Phase 2 will include custom paintings for the 9 staff offices. This is a wonderful project to extend hospitality to the clients that will be served at PCC. My prayer is that the staff will be blessed with custom artwork for their work spaces, too. See photos of the floorplan below (the circles denote area where paintings will be placed by Sept 2-phase 1 and the triangles denote area where pottery will be placed by Sept 2-phase 1) color palette
We're preparing artwork for the new Pregnancy Care Center facility on Primrose (http://www.pccchoices.com/) We'll be meeting with the interior designer to make paintings for the new facility. We're so excited to contribute to the enormous blessing this facility will be to PCC- praise God for the bounty of blessings and support they've received so far! Pray for God's continued guidance and leadership in this huge endeavor!
'The book' Through the years I've wanted to write a book about Art & Souls Ministry: bringing art to worship. I'm going to combine my plans, outlines and prayers to write a book proposal with the help some God-chosen friends! Please pray for us as we embark on this endeavor! We'll post excerpts later in fall 2008.
Studio notes I've started combining painting and pottery in a way that is different way recently. I bisqued a large, long flat tile, then painted it and applied a protectant. It was a different process altogether and I like the look.
I love firing work and waiting for it to come out of the final firing process. But it can be so disheartening when a whole kiln load gets misfired and is ruined. Last week I opened the kiln to find the whole load of work was ruined. ho humm... I'll have to get back in the studio to remake it all soon. I have to geared up to get back at it...
10 years later I was flipping through old sketchbooks and came across polaroids of an old tryptich (3 paneled painting) I had made 10 years ago. It was a series of sails from sailboats caught in different angles on the water. I'm working on a reprise of the work in a dyptich 10 years later in 2008. I'm going to change the color palette from bold red, orange, and golden yellow to blues and pale yellow for this series.
Pay pal We're working on adding pay-pal to the website items can be purchased directly from the site. -stay tuned for the update!
An artist takes on interior design I’ve had so much fun recently designing an office space using a color palette of a soft earth green, a mustardy brown-ish yellow, and a muted royal blue. The wood tone was a dark cherry accented with black leather cushions. The desk was topped off with antique brass accents. I made some pottery to fit the palette and space. I built three slab rectangular vases with wheat pressed into the clay as a textured accent. (I love using clay as a building material and a sculptural element!) Each vase varied in height, but were unified with the same wheat texture and earth yellow glaze. And I accented one of the walls with a flat wall piece (16” x 24”) made on the slab roller. I rolled the clay through again to press the wheat stalks into the surface. The difficulty was drying the piece so that it stayed flat. The piece did stay flat while drying and through two firings. It was accented with the same earth yellow glaze as the rectangular vases. But the best part was that the custom pottery pieces ended up looking just like I had them pictured in my mind’s eye when I originally sketched them!
Pottery makes a friend Here’s a fun story emailed to me from the website: “Greetings Kelly! I just wanted to tell you a little story about a piece of your artwork. My daughter and I were looking for autumn decor at the local Thrift store (south side of Chicago), when a small pot (great for holding pencils) caught my eye. I've always liked pottery and have even done some hand-built pieces years ago. I bought it, saw your website on the bottom, and checked it out. So now I understand the fish stamped on the clay more clearly! Another sister in Christ! How wonderful, as is your ministry! I just wanted to take the opportunity to tell you that it touched me and how small "coincidences" are often precious moments where God speaks to our soul. May He continue to bless your ministry, Kelly. Thank you for using your gifts and talents!
In Christ, Leigh Ann”
Field trip to Grant Woods ‘American Gothic’ I met an annual goal today and visited the site of the famous painting by Iowa artist, Grant Wood. My mom and I made the trek to southern Iowa to Eldon just southeast of Ottumwa to see the house that inspired the famous painting, ‘American Gothic’. We were there soon after the opening of the new visitors center where we learned about the history of the painting. The highlight was dressing up in costume dickeys to pose in the photograph together. They don’t even charge visitors to try on the costumes to photograph yourself in front of the house. It’s a ‘must see’ for any art lover in the Midwest! See the Iowa Historical Society website for more information at http://www.state.ia.us/government/dca/shsi/sites/gothic_house/gothic_house.html
Christmas time anytime! Almost every time I open the kiln to peak on new work, it’s a delight as thrilling as Christmas morning when I was a kid! Those slick new glazes taunt their sheen begging you to pick it up and admire the finished work. But, you best don your insulated leather gloves before picking work up out of the kiln. (Did you know that the glaze firing goes to 1800 degrees? Ouch- that’s hot! It’s safe to open the kiln at 300 degrees, but if anxiousness wins out and you force the kiln to cool too quickly, you can damage the kiln.) As the kiln cools, the new work can be unloaded to be discovered as new treasures. Gone is the old rough surface and in its place is new (and warm!) glassy glaze. I delight to discover each new piece and how the glaze looks on each piece. It’s Christmas time, it’s Christmas time and I have new treasures to share!
Leno’s big vases Has anyone seen the huge vases on the floor behind Leno’s desk this season? They make quite a statement. If they could talk, I’m sure they’d say “Clay is here to stay!” or “I like vases so surely BIGGER vases are BETTER vases!” or include a hang tag that says, “These vases are so large that they can be used as furniture!” Sometimes I watch movies or television shows to scan for inspirational ideas for artwork. I watched Frazier for his dry wit, his Chihuly glasswork by the fireplace and the huge paintings in his dining room. Now, I’m eyeing those huge vases on Leno’s late show.
Summer-time art Nothing says summer time like time at the lake, so I’m making a set of clay boats. Clay boats? Yes, clay boats. Now, they don’t float of course, but the set of them does set the mood of summer. I have three picked out and have nick named them the Pinta, the Nina and the Santa Maria! (Isn’t it funny how those fun fact-oids we learned in school come back at the most unexpected times!) I once made a clay canoe in school and gave it to my brother. I wonder if he still has it. I remember I made it to be a pencil tray of sorts.
a constant chorus
Revelations 4:8 tells us that there is a constant chorus in heaven repeating day and night, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is, and is to come.” Sometimes I say that throughout my day knowing I’m saying it in unison with those around the throne of God in heaven. “Holy, holy, holy….”
centering Making art is one way God speaks to the soul and spirit of me. Making wheel-thrown pottery work is a practiced art. The practice of making it reminds me of the constant practice of welcoming God’s truths to work in me. He centers me in my relationship with Him through the teaching of His truths. Wheel-thrown works demands clay be on center throughout the throwing process. Maybe one of the reasons why I throw pottery or why I’m drawn to wheel-thrown work is because it’s a visual, tangible reminder of His constant touch to keep on center in Him…
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