I can't believe I am doing this, writing a blog!! But I have felt the urge to share some of my thoughts and musings for some time. My purpose is to encourage others and to glorify God in all I write. Like I named this blog, "It's not about me", It's about Him, our Savior, Jesus Christ.
My first article I am sharing was one I wrote about six months before our daughter passed away quite suddenly. Little did I know at the time how much God was speaking to my heart preparing me for what was to come.
Shadows and Light
Many of you know how much I love to try and depict some of God’s creation in watercolor paintings. It’s been a journey of learning , more learning and then some.
I learn things slowly. I have to repeat things often before I understand the process and theories of what makes a painting glow and draw the viewer into the picture. I have to ask myself what it is that catches the eye of the beholder and makes them gasp with delight while gazing at a work of art?
Lately I’ve been painting quite a few flowers and as I was learning more about how to make the flower look particularly appealing and draw the eye to gaze at its beauty, I found several things of interest. In order to have the flower glowing with light one needs to have strong shadows to depict a sun kissed petal. One has to exaggerate the contrast by having the darkest darks against the lightest lights.. Sometimes only light shadows infer the shape and curve of a delicate petal. If we really look at shadows we’ll see various colors, such as blue, mauve, and yellows, not just gray. Deep mysterious dark areas make the flower stand out or “pop” and give it dimension. All the variation in light and dark values give the painting of a flower its shape, it’s color, and it’s beauty. The color values actually give the painting it’s strength and “wow” factor or leaves it weak and unremarkable.
As I was learning this and absorbing the concept and seeing it become a reality as I apply my brush strokes, I became acutely aware of something.
I applied the same concept to the moulding and shaping of our character. Without the shadows and dark valleys God makes us walk sometimes, our character wouldn't be built, wouldn't strengthen, and wouldn’t glow, as He wants it to. He is creating beauty within us when we sometimes feel in the depths of despair. Just like I feel when my painting is in that ugly unfinished stage and I feel like tearing it up. I have to persevere, because it usually always works out and becomes recognizable and is enjoyed by others.
We can be at peace in the midst of the shadows, because He is the master painter, He doesn’t make mistakes, He will not throw us away in the middle of the process, in its ugly unfinished stage. He is delighted with His masterpiece because He sees the finished work of Christ in you and I. We can know that we are beautiful in His sight and in His perfect love, shadows and all.
Jeremiah 29:11For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
My first article I am sharing was one I wrote about six months before our daughter passed away quite suddenly. Little did I know at the time how much God was speaking to my heart preparing me for what was to come.
Shadows and Light
Many of you know how much I love to try and depict some of God’s creation in watercolor paintings. It’s been a journey of learning , more learning and then some.
I learn things slowly. I have to repeat things often before I understand the process and theories of what makes a painting glow and draw the viewer into the picture. I have to ask myself what it is that catches the eye of the beholder and makes them gasp with delight while gazing at a work of art?
Lately I’ve been painting quite a few flowers and as I was learning more about how to make the flower look particularly appealing and draw the eye to gaze at its beauty, I found several things of interest. In order to have the flower glowing with light one needs to have strong shadows to depict a sun kissed petal. One has to exaggerate the contrast by having the darkest darks against the lightest lights.. Sometimes only light shadows infer the shape and curve of a delicate petal. If we really look at shadows we’ll see various colors, such as blue, mauve, and yellows, not just gray. Deep mysterious dark areas make the flower stand out or “pop” and give it dimension. All the variation in light and dark values give the painting of a flower its shape, it’s color, and it’s beauty. The color values actually give the painting it’s strength and “wow” factor or leaves it weak and unremarkable.
As I was learning this and absorbing the concept and seeing it become a reality as I apply my brush strokes, I became acutely aware of something.
I applied the same concept to the moulding and shaping of our character. Without the shadows and dark valleys God makes us walk sometimes, our character wouldn't be built, wouldn't strengthen, and wouldn’t glow, as He wants it to. He is creating beauty within us when we sometimes feel in the depths of despair. Just like I feel when my painting is in that ugly unfinished stage and I feel like tearing it up. I have to persevere, because it usually always works out and becomes recognizable and is enjoyed by others.
We can be at peace in the midst of the shadows, because He is the master painter, He doesn’t make mistakes, He will not throw us away in the middle of the process, in its ugly unfinished stage. He is delighted with His masterpiece because He sees the finished work of Christ in you and I. We can know that we are beautiful in His sight and in His perfect love, shadows and all.
Jeremiah 29:11For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
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