I found myself in the last few months becoming quite worrried about my "old age". As I have been reading through Isaiah these verses were particularly comforting, and I undertook to memorize them.

Isaiah 46:3-4

"You whom I have upheld since you were conceived,

and have carried since your birth.
Even to your old age and gray hairs

I am he, I am he who will sustain you.

I have made you and I will carry you;

I will sustain you and I will rescue you."

I wanted to go deeper into the passage and understand it more fully. Recently I have been reading a poetry writing book for young people with the intention of using some of the ideas in my journal classes. One suggestion was for a synonym poem. With that idea in mind I went to an online thesaurus and looked up "sustain". There were many synonyms (30+) and I wrote them all down in my journal. Then I went alphabetically through the list and made 2 line poems. The suggestion was to use 3 to 4 synonyms in the first line and then a rhyming line for the second verse. I used the aid of an online rhyming dictionary for the second verse. The poems are simple and I do not pretend in any way to be a master wordsmith but the process made it possible to continue to think about the idea of God sustaining me through "old age and grey hairs" and began to change a heart of anxiety to one of hope and trust in God's promise. Here is a sampling of the verses:

Aid, Assist, Abide

I will ever be by your side.

Bolster, Brace, Bear

My Word has promised that I will care.

Continue, Carry, Comfort, Confirm

My Word, my love, I have affirmed.

Keep alive, Keep up, Keep going

Your love for me is everflowing.

I found that the process of working through the words using poetry and then writing them in my journal with color and calligraphy allowed time to ponder and contemplate the ideas to a depth not possible when I just read over the text. It seeps into my life in a fuller and richer way.

Liam, Jack and Uncle Peter - 2

Liam, Jack and Uncle Peter

Twins - Twice the blessing

I promised some pictures of the twins but then experienced a number of difficulties with getting photos to my blog. Google has upgraded and changed procedures and now it is certainly not working for me with the ease that it had previously. But here are 2 photos from 2 weeks ago. We had a wonderful four days taking care of Jack and Liam. You forget so quickly how extraordinary it is to be around little children. It is a real delight. And we are enjoying every moment.

A sweet prayer

From the Moleskin web site:http://notebookism.com/
Prayer of a Writer
Lord of all things, whose wondrous gifts to man include the shining symbols known as words, grant that I may use their mighty power only for good.Help me to pass on small fragments of your wisdom, truth and love. Teach me to touch the unseen, lonely heart with laughter, or the quick release of tears.Let me portray the courage that endures, defiant in the face of pain or death; the kindness and gentleness of those who fight against the anger of the world; the beauty hidden in the smallest things; the mystery, the wonder of it all . . .Open my ears, my eyes; unlock my heart. Speak through me, Lord, if it be your will.Amen.

Crown King for Christmas

The entire family braved the open road, snow storms in Denver, a race to make the plane in Lubbock, one day for Christmas shopping in Dallas, cross country travel from Delaware, and international travel from Mexico to join Mike, Lara and Liam and Jack in Crown King, Arizona for Christmas. There is no place like family for the holidays. We enjoyed immensely the chance to be together and celebrate the holidays with two incredibly engaging 18 month old little boys celebrating their second Christmas in this world. What a priviledge to be with children at Christmas. Pictures of the twins to follow next time.

 

2006 and family holiday portraits

Last week I spent going through my calendar of 2006 and my journals of last year. I recorded the highlights on some new journal pages. Below are two of those pages. My calendar for last year featured William Morris art work, so I decided to incorporate some of my favorites in the background. I have always loved the art that came out of the Arts and Crafts Movement in England.
The last journal page is some sketches of a pastel painting that I am working on. I knew I wanted to have more practice working on faces and the painting of my family around the Thanksgiving table in 1938 afforded practice with 14 or 15 small portraits. I want to draw each of them in my journal to get some practice before I tackle them in the painting. It is facsinating when you do portraits of people because the smallest stroke of the pen can capture the person or completely make them into someone else, a stranger. Aunt Lucille and Uncle Stephen bear some very small spark of the people I knew in my childhood. Aunt Kay and Aunt Mary are definitely off the mark. Practice, Practice, Practice!!!!!!


 

"The palest ink is better than the best memories"

I read this quote in Danny Gregory's web site, dannygregory.com, and it certainly captured my experience with drawing. Sketches have a way of capturing a moment that photos or memories just don't do in the same vivid way.
I took the first week of January 2007 to look back through my journals of 2006. I wanted to be reminded of all that had taken place last year, but I also desired to look with a critical eye toward the design and art of what I had produced on those pages. I kept a list of what I thought had "worked" and what had not. I hope to incorporate what was successful in the pages of 2007. Here are some of my favorite design elements from 2006:
1. Frames around my drawings or writing
2. I always like the pages that have drawings on them, usually the more time I spend on the drawing the more I like it.
3. Flowing, gyrating writing.
4. Writing around the frames
5. Columns of writing
6. Watercolor rather than the markers
7. Drawing with labeling
8. Distressed ink backgrounds
9. Letters connected to the lines above and below.
I also did better when I had a theme/design element that I continued to use for a number of weeks. I am thinking I might break the year into quarters and try to have a clear design thread, and a drawing challenge/image to work on in that quarter. I am thinking that this first quarter it may be faces and ovals. More on that in the next segment.
All three of the pages below are inspired by gifts given me by my friend, Kate. I love persimmons and one day she gave a number of wonderful bright orange globes of persimmons. I put them on the sink counter and enjoyed them for a number of days. then one early morning I brought them into the bedroom. I usually awake around 5 and have a quiet time reading my Bible, praying, and using part of the Bible reading to inspire my journal pages. The persimmons were a lovely accompaniment to God's word. The third page is a darling angelic ornament that Kate made. When we arrived home from a wonderfully adventurous Christmas in Crown King, Arizona this button angel was waiting in the mail.