Dream

   I dream of painting what is in my very soul. The colors I choose match and magnify my feelings. The shapes personify ease or the opposite, constriction. Flora Bowley quotes her art professor as saying to his class on the first day, "Well we might as well get on with it. You all have 100 bad paintings inside of you." 

    Perhaps I've made 50 in the last 18 months. That makes me really excited. Think of what is coming in the future. I love many of my paintings so far and how much better will they get?  

   Above; "Through A Glass Darkly" is very sweet hanging on my wall. I smile when I see the color peeking through from early layers. 

   Below; "Stay Close To The Tree" is a homage to Lehi's tree. A modern girl presses into the trunk. She has wings,  representing power to move forward. The heart of the tree shows the love emanating from the center.; the love of God.

     God's love allows me to press forward in faith. May I ever stay close and focused upon Him.

    
      I write on Fridays with a large group who inspire me. Only five minutes and without much thought to perfection. I write, prompted by one word that sends my thoughts to the keyboard and hopefully make sense.

Fear

  A tightening in the gut, faster heartbeat, and unfocused thinking are all symptoms of the emotion called fear. I know them well. My favorite fears are severe weather events, unexplained illnesses in myself or those I know, car failure, and unforeseen money shortfalls. I don't fear talking in front of strangers, needles, water, or failure. I suppose I'm normal.

    Yesterday, while preparing the song "Amazing Grace" with my granddaughter on the piano I read the words to her. She wanted to know what fear of God was. I explained that sometimes the word fear means respect. To fear God means to respect his opinion, his ways, his view of life and never take him for granted. I should develop a stronger fear of God. I certainly fear coming before him unclean. That would bring on the tightening in my gut, the faster heartbeat, and the unfocused thinking. This makes me think that feeling fear might be a healthy thing. Warning; the events coming up might not be so nice. Try repentance as the antidote.

I write on Fridays with a large group who inspire me. Only five minutes and without much thought to perfection. I write, prompted by one word that sends my thoughts to the keyboard and hopefully make sense.



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World

  Today's prompt is the word world. It feels overwhelming to consider the world and what that word means to me. My world, the world I see and interact with, is small. There is work and there is play. There are friends and there is family. Sometimes I feel like I am in my world, alive and vibrant, and sometimes I feel that I am a poor lonely traveler who has stopped in the wrong places and said the wrong things.

    There are tremors in my world right now. I'm uncomfortable in some well worn paths. I have an anger growing inside towards myself and change I need to make. My prayers are sticky. I want. I want without the effort. My Savior said that I was to be in the world but not of the world. Of what shall I be?  Of spirit, of truth, of joy? Reaching for it; that is what I'm doing. Reaching wide and long.

   

I write on Fridays with a large group who inspire me. Only five minutes and without much thought to perfection. I write, prompted by one word that sends my thoughts to the keyboard and hopefully make sense.

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Online Learning

  Following three online classes during 2015 is challenging. However the content from class to class is related. If I were to generalize the main idea of each class it would be the topic of  experiencing life fully.

 Monica Sabolla Gruppo has caused me to think about the home I inhabit. Looking around I see things and I see stuff.

    Things are lovely art, colorful dishes made by hands I really know, and cozy corners that welcome my meditative stillness. Stuff is not pictured here on this blog because I find stuff creeping up on my radar and I want to simplify my home by letting stuff go. With the things I care about I'd like to make added beauty. One example os sorting books by color. The effect is noticeable. 

    Monica has challenged me to keep a physical gratefulness diary. I found a sweet one in a recent Flow Magazine.

   One Little Word, a class aimed at choosing a word and making it visible in your life, is "in progress".
My word is available all around me and I see new found insights related to this word.

   Flora Bowley's Bloom True E-Course started June 1, 2015. It is an ambitious attempt at becoming even more persistent in painting and drawing. There is material everyday and the assignments are wonderful.

    I have four canvases under construction. That sounds a little bit weird. I will be adding more layers so what you see here may look very different later.

  The above is my warm color  canvas. A woman appeared there and she may be covered over at some point. I do like the freshness of the colors.

   The cool color canvas is beginning a keyboard, of sorts. I wonder if that will stay. Flora's process is not unlike KellyRae Robert's. Both classes force me to stay unattached which is difficult. These classes add zip to my life and give me a great deal to look forward to.