Beyond Slavery

As an artist, there is one thing that stands out in everything we see, that is the beauty.  Even though there are things all around us trying to take away from the beauty, the beauty we see is always there and then comes all the thoughts as we are painting.  Well, at least that's what happens to me.  As this painting was beginning to take shape and the thoughts begin to whirl around in my head, especially with the events of late here at the end of 2014, I saw this as a look into the past and future of our ever changing culture.

I entitled this piece "Beyond Slavery"  particularly because, I was under the impression we had moved past that.  Apparently though, some are still stuck there, dragging the bitterness around on a daily basis and trying to infect us all with hatred.  My heart goes out to those who are determined not only to drag themselves down but are also trying to take all of us down with them.  These are the ones that walk around with a ball and chain, dragging their feet from the heaviness of bitterness, seeking revenge and destruction of anyone that might get in their way.

Take a close look at this painting;  The field is empty, because we have moved on.  Yes, most of us have moved on, most of us are living in the now and striving for a better future. We have moved from the field to the promise of a lovelier day, a wonderful day, a gorgeous sky full of beauty, promise and possibilities.

As in all of our lives, there have been failures and there have been mistakes.  Just as we are thankful for the flowers, we have to be thankful for the mud.  Just as we are thankful for the accomplishments, we have to be thankful for the failures and what each failure taught us.  If you are afraid to try, you will never go anywhere, you will never taste the life that God has given you, you will never reach your full potential. We all must experience some failures and some mistakes to get there.

But, once you have made it past a certain point, then leave it there.  Remember the failure, only for the lesson it taught you.  The heartaches, the disappointments, the mistakes have brought us all to the point we are at today, right now, at this very moment.  Rise above it and look past the point where we once were (the cotton field) and into the bright, beautiful sky of the now and the future.  If we dwell in the past, we dishonor our ancestors and forefathers who fought the battles and made the mistakes for us to learn from.  If you act like a criminal, you either want to be one or think it’s your destiny for some reason.  Why?  "Gird up you loins" as God put it and be who you are meant to be, use the mistakes of others as your teacher. The hard work and burdens carried by generations before us were not intended to create bitterness, they were intended to create Freedom!

We can remain enslaved by our bitterness or we can grow a pair of wings and fly far away from it.

I'm not stuck in the cotton field.  Are you?

Art: Counting feathers or NOT

 

 

Some of us are just too serious.  There are times when we just need to let go and play with ideas instead of thinking that we need to do a serious, saleable piece each time we begin one.  I find that when I do allow myself to relax and just have fun with it all, I personally, like the finished product better.  But early on, I was around many artists that were successful at selling their work, actually counting the feathers on the ducks in their paintings and they were….. tremendously stressed out.

The thought that everything had to be just so-so, has remained with me throughout the years.  Even though much of my work doesn’t reflect that, I was attempting to achieve perfection and it has been very stressful.  Occasionally, I have allowed myself to just let it all go and have fun.  I love that free feeling so much, but still can’t seem to stay there.

Early on in my life as a Christian, I was taught much the same way about worshipping God.  I had to be perfect.  Don’t wear this and don’t wear that, don’t go here and don’t go there.  Pray at this time of the day and for this long and about these things.  If you do this or that, you won’t go to heaven or God will be mad at you. 

As humans, I now know that we can never achieve perfection as far as being judged by others on this earth.  We are made in the likeness of God, so therefore we are perfect in His eyes.  We will surely slip and fall, but He knows what we are capable of, He created us.  God gave me freedom to worship Him and be happy when He revealed to me through His Word, Galatians 5:22-23, which is all about the Fruits of the Spirit.  The wonderful things that God has given me to do that I can do with His help.  I can’t battle profanity and promiscuity in the work place, but I can concentrate on being more like Jesus, emphasizing and practicing the Fruits of the Spirit.  I can’t solve the problems of homelessness, but I can give when I can.  I can’t keep someone from getting mad at me, but I can practice longsuffering.  I can’t always keep myself from getting angry, but I can replace angry words with kind words, understanding words and good deeds.

I hope that someday I can experience the same freedom and peace with my paintings that God has given me in my day to day life.  There are still battles everyday that I find I want to jump on the bandwagon of, but when I rein myself in and focus on what I should be doing instead of what I shouldn’t be doing, it’s a much happier life to live.

So whenever I find myself starting to count feathers, I pull  back and focus on the surroundings.  The beautiful clouds, the color of the flowers, the sun rise or sun set; these are all easier to see and bring into perspective than all the feathers on a duck.

Galatians 5:22-23  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, (23) Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

 

About the painting:

I started out as usual, thinking I was going to copy this photograph I took exactly.  I quickly realized that I was trying to hard and just began to enjoy it.

This is watercolor pencil, black, gray and acrylic white on wood pallets placed in a barn wood frame.  The stenciling around it is a lace paper doily.

Here’s the photo:

   

 

Photo taken while working:

 

 

Finished piece:

 

If you’d like to see more of my work please visit my page at southern sky art studio.

Art: Flag on cheesecloth

 

 

I wanted to share this interesting technique with you. The overall affect is quite pleasing to the eye in my opinion.  It is a perfect setting for our a tattered American flag.

All you need is….

1.  Paint sticks (or some sort of flat surface to attach your cheesecloth to).

2.  Cheesecloth (enough to cover the surface and wrap around the back).

3.  Sewing hoop 

4.  Gesso

5.  Acrylic paint

6.  Mod Podge (or your favorite glue sealer)

7.  Frame (I used painted stretcher strips)

As I was working on this picture I was thinking about the blood that has continually been shed in the name of “freedom” throughout our history.  You can begin reading of the blood shed for freedom in God’s Word.  The ultimate blood shed was Christ on the cross.  This blood shed freed us from laws we could not keep.  No matter how hard we try, we are humans, not perfect like God, so we will always fail.  But God made a way for us to be free.  His Son Jesus Christ shed His blood on the cross for us. 

Throughout history men have shed blood for the right to be free, to live and worship as they believed.  That is what the flag represents to me, freedom.

Try your hand at duplicating this project, all you have to do is……………………

1.  Place your cheesecloth in the sewing hoop, pull gently to tighten, close the sewing hoop.

2.  Apply the gesso to the area where you are going to paint on, thicker specifically in the focal point area.

3.  Once dry, (I let mine set for several days), use a watery acrylic to paint your design.

4.  When dry, gently remove the cheesecloth from the sewing hoop and lay on the flat surface of your choosing.  Position it where you would like it to be and seal with the decopauge technique.  You’ll have to use gently strokes on the parts of the cloth there is not much gesso on.

5.  Once your sealer is, dry frame it and your done.

If you try painting something else besides a flag, I’d like to see what you come up with.  Here’s the picture after it was framed.

 

God, Grace, Glory

 

 

 

God’s Glorious Grace!  Thanks so much for that!

There was a law at one time that no one could live up to.  God sent His only Son to die on a cross so that we could be freed from that law. Blood was shed so that we could have the freedom to live our lives as best we could for God’s Glory without living in fear that we were always making God mad.  God will never take that away from us.

There was a law at one time that others felt would take their freedom away from worshipping their God the way they felt was right.  God put it in the hearts of those who believed their freedom was being threatened, to do something about it.  Blood was shed.  America was born and we were no longer under those laws.  Will we let these rights be taken away from us?

Just like God expected a Man to stand up and do what was right for His people, just like God expected men to take a stand one time against being controlled, He expects it now.

Will we let the freedoms we have had for years be taken away?  Those who are trying to tell us how and when we will worship our God will not win.  They will not prevail.  The battle has already been won.  I guess they didn’t get the memo!

Even though the battle has already been won, don’t you want to be on the winning side?

What are you doing?

God, Grace and Glory!