Life Artists
The most visible creators I know ofare those artists whosemedium is life itself.The ones who expressthe inexpressible - without brush,hammer, clay or guitar.They neither paint nor sculpt -their medium is being.Whatever their presence toucheshas increased life.They see and don't have to draw,they are the artists of being alive.J. Stone
A Blank Canvas
My mother is an artist. She can do amazing things with a blank canvas. However, she hasn't really painted in years. She stopped when we were young because she felt her time and focus needed to be spent on us (and rightly so), but she didn't pick it back up again after we all left home and I've often wished she had.Over the last year, I've had this really strong desire to paint. I was given a beautiful easel and box of paints, brushes and supplies, plus a stack of canvases for Christmas this past year and I finally painted a canvas. Some of you have seen this, but I wanted to share it. It's a painting from a photo of an orchid plant that is blooming away on my lanai. I can't tell you what...
Holding Feelings in Low Esteem
Bet you're thinking that's a pretty weird title for a post. Especially if your a woman and (if you admit it) your feelings often define and govern your every move. Let me explain.My bible study group (a favorite group of girlfriends that met at my house on Wednesday mornings during the school year) is off for the summer. One of the girls came up with the brilliant idea of doing a summer "e-study" - we all read the same book, one chapter a week, and discuss it through email. We are working our way through "Lessons I Learned in the Dark: Steps to Walking By Faith, Not By Sight" by Jennifer Rothschild. If you haven't read this, RUN, don't walk, to your nearest bookstore and get it. It will...
My Nephew, The Entrepreneur
My brother Roger has two young sons - Owen, age 7 and Luke, age 5. They are absolutely adorable and smart as whips. Roger owns a Sign-a-Rama franchise in Dallas, and has apparently instilled the value of being an entrepreneur in his boys.We were all at dinner our first night in Texas. Owen let everyone know that he was now running his own sign business called "Superior Sign Makers". He had even contracted his brother to do "installs". Kevin negotiated a deal with Owen to make him a sign, and when they were finished making the deal, Kevin said he was really glad to have Owen working for him. Owen was quiet for a minute and said "Why did you say I was working for you?" Kevin said, "Well,...
The Eyes of Texas
Kevin and I just returned from a wonderful trip to Texas. We went to help my very special Aunt Mary Ellen celebrate her 80th birthday! Can you believe it? This is Mary Ellen with her sweet friend Scotty...I'm hoping that I'm loaded with her genes (and her wisdom and her elegance and her grace...)! We've actually been thinking a lot about what we want our retirement years to look like and where we want to live them out, and without question, both of us want to go home to Texas. So, we decided that we would also use this trip to look for land - better to buy now while it's semi-affordable! We decided that we wanted to be down in Hill Country (around Austin/San Antonio, for you non-Texans!)....