Pregnant! ~ Artsmiths One Word Challenge

This month the Artsmiths group challenged its members to create a piece of art based on one word to describe ourselves. Wow! Who would have thought this would have been such a. . . challenge?

This post is my entry. Be sure to head over to the Artsmiths blog to read the rest. And after that, dear reader, I present to you the same challenge. Create a piece of art using one word to describe yourself. Post it to your blog and come back here and leave me a comment and a link. I would love to get to know you more!



Before you get any ideas, just let me clarify, I am not with child.

But I am pregnant.

Pregnant with ideas, and life, and desire, and hope, and possibilities!

There were many words I thought of to describe myself for this art challenge. Serious words, funny words, words that describe my character, my faith, or my physical appearance. Words that would lift, words that put down even, depending on the moment, my mood, or my circumstances. And I did have one word picked out that I thought maybe summed up my life, but every time I sat down to create with that word in mind I couldn’t see beyond the blank canvas. The deadline for the challenge came and went and still I had nothing. It was a good word, an inspiring word, a word that gave me many ideas of what I wanted to say, but I finally resigned myself to the fact that it must not be the word. So I let it go and sat back down in front of that blank canvas and that’s when it hit me:

I am pregnant!

With pregnancy there is a time of development that is necessary for the baby, but uncomfortable for the mother. Morning sickness, weird cravings, expanding waistline, midnight anxiety, and false labor. This pregnancy of mine has been no different.

The past two years have been a few of the most difficult of my life. My husband lost his job two years ago marking the beginning of a season of difficulties and trials that turned my world upside down. Painful trials, difficult times that I begged God to remove me from. But I’ve come to realize that the pains, not unlike the pains of labor, have had a special purpose. Intentionally designed, as with the pushing necessary to give birth, to cause me to push past the stagnant place I was once content to graze and dare to give birth to my dreams.

Like a child growing in the womb, these dreams have been inside of me, growing, developing and waiting for their time to come. And as with any pregnancy the pain of labor had to be endured in order to give birth. The pain comes with the promise of a new life.

“A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world.” John 16:21

Last week I put my notice in at my job, a literal end to my labor? No. Giving birth to this dream will be hard. I will have to nurture it through its infancy in order for it to survive. But I can’t hold it back anymore, this dream I have of becoming an artist full time. I am pregnant.

Pregnant with ideas, and life, and desire, and hope, and possibilities!

The Resurrection

The resurrection, was created for an Easter Swap with some online artist friends.

This is my first ever attempt to use a torch at home and it was intimidating! I've got a bit of a phobia about gas explosions so to hold this soldering torch with tank attached and light it was somewhat therapeutic in helping me to overcome my fear and move to the next skill level in my work.

I couldn't have chosen a more challenging way to start, soldering these two old silver spoons together just at the edges. Nothing like trying to juggle the torch, the solder, and keeping the piece balanced in just the right position to really break me in! But I was inspired to give it a try after reading Jane Wynn's soldering technique in her new book Altered Curiosities. Jane made it seem so achievable for a DIYer like me.

Side view where I soldered the two old silver spoons together.

I love this picture of it in Kelly's hand. (Kelly I lifted some photos from your blog, I hope that's okay.) Kelly Snelling was my swap partner and so encouraged me to let go of my intimidation and give this swap a try.

The piece was created with a lot of symbolic meaning. The spoons, in the shape of an egg, represent new birth or new beginnings. I sawed the front spoon in a jagged manner, which reminds me of the tearing of the curtain in the temple the moment Jesus died on the cross, removing all barriers between us and God.

Using the torch to anneal the metal many times over, I managed to fashion the handles of the spoons to look like a vine, a reminder of Jesus' words from John 15:4 -

"Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me."

It is hard to see, but an antique etching of the mouth of a cave is mounted inside the piece, with the cross soldered to the edges of the front spoon, the intent is to give the impression of the tomb after Jesus has risen, hence the title of the piece, The Resurrection.

And my favorite element, the coral branches, traditionally represent protection, as well as the blood of Christ.

"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin." 1 John 1:7

Here is the necklace in the little box I made to send it away to Kelly in. I didn't have time to do everything to the box that I wanted to, didn't even have time to take pictures of it before I sent it. These two are from Kelly's blog.

The little red cross is a tiny glass stopper that somebody painted red.

Now the best thing about this swap is that I was Kelly's partner, which meant that I got a piece of her work!

More beautiful then I could have imagined, Kelly has used Peruvian opal nuggets, green chalcedony, aventurine rondelles and green freshwater pearls, along with sterling Hill Tribe beads, religious medallions, and a crucifix hanging from a centerpiece that she handcrafted.

It is gorgeous! Thank-you Kelly!!

Be sure to read Kelly's Easter post about her little boy learning the resurrection story in school. It really warmed my heart.

I hope your Easter was filled with peace and your Spring is a true season of renewal. May God bless you richly.

The Graduate

Call me one proud mama....my son went off and joined the Army National Guard and just graduated from basic training at Fort Benning, Georgia.

That's Jason right in the middle.

Jason on the left. He'll be 26 this week!

Before he enlisted.

And Graduation day.

We drove all the way down to see him for two very short days. Graduation day, 3-20-08, was 5 years to the day that our country went to war in Iraq. He signed on the dotted line knowing the chances are high that he could be deployed, but he is determined to make a difference in his life and in the world around him.

He left Fort Benning for Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama on Friday. With one of the highest scores on an entrance exam his recruiter had ever seen, Jason qualified for just about any of the training programs available. He chose Ground Radar Surveilance Repair. He'll spend the next 48 weeks at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama and Fort Sill, Oklahoma in one of the longest AIT programs there was to choose from. The average program is around 6 weeks. After that he'd like to pursue an engineering degree.

Do I sound like I'm bragging? I am.

I had Jason when I was only 16. Being the son of a teenaged mom isn't the easiest thing in the world. Life has been tough for him, for us both. We did some growing up together, or maybe just at the same time.

I lifted these words of Jason's from his My Space profile: " I've been on one hell of a journey for the past 25 years, I've made my fair share of bad decisions, but I have no regrets. Sometimes I struggle to reconcile the person I was with the person I am today; though I am constantly reminded by people much wiser than myself that the most important thing is becoming the person I was meant to be."

Still have some growing to do, him and I, but God is in the growing business and I'm keeping my eyes on Him.

God bless you Jason, Happy Birthday and Congratulations!

To A Wild Woman of Strength - Happy Valentine's Day

A Wild Woman of Strength, not much to make one think of Valentine's Day at first glance, but under the surface her story comes straight from the heart.

Born from the words of a fellow artist that were rolling around my head as I worked and prayed:

You gotta Believe-
Trust-
And Stand Strong.

I thought of this artist's story, her pain as well as her love for others and I kept thinking of these words she posted that gave strength and encouragement. And as I prayed for inspiration I began to think of the number of times God encourages in the bible with the words:

"Do not be discouraged, Do not be afraid, for the Lord your God is with you."

I thought of the number of other artists & women friends I knew who had suffered much pain over the past year and still stood strong, still managed to encourage others with their own messages of hope.

Women who were suffering financial loss, death of loved ones, depression, personal illnesses and cancers. Women who were going through divorce, or seperations from men they thought they would spend the rest of their lives with, who were finding life was not at all what they had believed it would be.

I thought of my own journey and my own trials, especially over the past year. I have endured so many of these trials all at once. I thought of how God had pulled me through in a way I never thought possible. Sometimes seeming that He was the only reason I could stand. The only reason I had any strength or desire to go on at all.

And then I knew where this Wild Strength came from. This ability to believe, to trust, and to stand strong.

It came from experiencing the greatest love one could ever know. One that went deeper then any human love ever could.

"The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged." Deuteronomy 31:8

A Wild Woman of Strength can lift her head and stand in the face of trials because she is rooted and grounded in His love. She doesn't rely on her own strength to endure, she knows where her strength comes from. She reaches deep within her heart and holds on to the one who gave up all so that she could live.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16

This Wild Woman of Strength was created for my Valentine Swap gift for these talented artists:JoAnna Pierotti, Lou McCulloch, Jackie Allison, Jennifer Rowland, and Melissa David.

Update: my post previously included an offer to win one of the "Wild Women" by visiting my Art Pub Blog, but the group is going through an unexpected transition so please stay tuned...

Won't You Be My Valentine?

I almost started this post by saying I can't believe it's the middle of February already. But then I realized I spend a lot of time marveling at the passing of time. I guess it is true, the older you get the faster time seems to pass.

Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Psalm 90:12

When time seems to slip through my fingers I do need to use it wisely. It's easy to lose sight of my priorities and get caught up in mindless busyness. Working on art is one way that I have of helping me to slow down and focus on the things that matter to me. When I work away on a project I know the Lord is with me. He is The Creator and has put the desire to be creative in me.

As I work I often find myself praying "Lord show me what you want to say, help me to have your vision". This little Valentine's swap I participated in is no exception. It began with a certain element that I had been wanting to try in a project for some time so I decided this was the perfect opportunity. Unfortunately no matter how often I sat down with it and pushed it around the work table, I couldn't come up with a thing.

But one night a few weeks back I was reading a post in my Art Pub group from a fellow Pubster that really struck a chord with me. She has been experiencing a tough year and Valentine's day will be a particularly tough day for her.

Her words stuck with me for a few days, until I found myself mulling them over and praying as I sat and tried to pull something together for the Valentine's swap once again, and just like that the inspiration hit. I saw this woman as a WILD WOMAN OF STRENGTH for all that she has been through and still has the ability to reach out to others with laughter and encouragement.

This past year and a half has been quite a rough year for me as well, with days where I felt I could barely hang on. And days when I knew if the Lord didn't have ahold of me I would have given up.

It seems so many women I know have gone through a very rough season in there lives over this past year or so. Some with physical illnesses and cancers, some with losing parents, spouses, and even children, some have suffered job loss or tremendous job stresses. So much pain in these women's lives and yet when I think of them I see them also as being incredible WILD WOMEN OF STRENGTH.

And so that is what came together on my work table for the Valentine's swap. Little works of art that reflect this strength that I have seen in so many women friends this past year. They are aptly titled WILD WOMAN OF STRENGTH and that's the only clue you'll get. I've wrapped them all up and sent them out just in the knick of time to the other 5 women in the swap and I will post pictures on Valentines day along with the words that inspired the work.

Now it just so happens that I may have put 1 or 2 extra packages in the mail for a few women who God really laid on my heart. WILD WOMEN OF STRENGTH who have had the courage to face their difficulties this year, standing strong and encouraging others along the way.

I wanted to send one out to just about every woman I know. So many of you are incredible WILD WOMEN OF STRENGTH and have been through so much. So watch your mailboxes and see if it is you because you know that inside you really are a WILD WOMAN OF STRENGTH too.

But don't worry, if it wasn't you then hop on over to my Art Pub blog on Valentines day and sign up for a drawing to win one of your own!