Me, Myself and I

These three words seem harmless but in matters of our faith, they can be dangerous.

When used to brag about our feats and achievements they become a matter of pride. Taking pride in our accomplishments and bragging as though we alone made them happen is self-absorption, self-centeredness; we forget who made it possible for us to succeed, who gave us the ability do well, to create, to be!

When facing crisis or difficulties, we tend to become the center; we utter phrases like “why me?” As if we alone go through trials. In effect we’re self-pitying, looking for others to feel sorry for us and what we are going through.

It is hard when we are confronted with the truth about ourselves. I’ve been guilty of all of the above and as I look back on my pity party celebrations, I’m appalled at my lack of humbleness, my lack of trust in God!! Yes, that is exactly what it is: selfish, self-absorbing, me, myself and I self-centeredness!

God wants us to turn to Him for all our needs. He has promised to take care of us and provide for us over and over again in scripture, but it is as if we don’t hear or believe Him. As I read today’s scripture in my study plan, Jeremiah 45, verse 5 halted me in my tracks. Here’s what it says, “And you, do you seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them; for I am going to bring disaster upon all flesh, says the Lord; but I will give you your life as a prize of war in every place to which you may go.”” (NRSV)

I had to re-read it all over again and as I did it struck me: stop focusing on success for yourself, stop focusing on doing things your way; forget your self-pitying absorption and instead lean on God, place your trust in Him, allow Him to guide your footsteps and He will prosper you!

#bestnineart2018

That’s it! That’s what God wants from us, that we surrender and humble ourselves before Him and allow Him to do what He’s always promised He would do: be our Jehovah Jireh, our provider. God’s word in this verse is a promise to us if we move from self-centeredness to Christ-centeredness!

#bestnine2018 (cards)

As we enter into 2019, I pray we will all take a look at our lives and the path we are on and take stock of where we are and where we want to be; that we rewrite the story of our lives to make God the main focus of everything we do and trust Him for our success.

As you center yourself and create plans and goals for the New Year, I invite you to read Hebrews 11:6 and make it your go-to scripture for the year: “And without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever would approach him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” (NRSV).

Happy and prosperous 2019!

Back to Basics

We are the church. Did you know that? The four walls that enclose us on Sunday mornings are just that—walls. When we leave the building we should be taking the church with us. After all, we are witnesses for God, His representatives here on earth. And through the power of the Holy Spirit, we can take God’s word where the Spirit leads us.

Before David decided he wanted to build a temple for God, He (God) was everywhere the people went; He was not boxed in, He was in the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night (Exodus 13:21). Even after the temple was built, God could not be contained. When the Israelites went into exile in Babylon, God was with them; when we, modern day Christians became part of the Vine as Gentiles grafted in by God’s grace and mercy into Abraham’s family tree, He didn’t leave us, on the contrary, He molded us and made us part of His family, all without walls! So why do we limit ourselves to the four walls of the church? Why do we continue to do business as usual, holding on to tradition, locking our doors against those who look and speak different than we do, when the God we serve is a God of change, one who doesn’t look on us based on our gender, color or anything that hints at a difference in our make up; a God who looks to do ‘a new thing’ in the lives of His people?  Here’s why: we are afraid of change, so we remain locked in the four walls of the church afraid to wander in the wilderness not trusting in the Holy Spirit to guide us, and what is worse, we keep others out, thus isolating ourselves, which keeps us from being who God created us to be: His church.

We must go back to basics, back to allowing God to lead us by day and night, through His Spirit, to reach others for His kingdom.  To do so, we must tear down the walls that separate us from God’s children and welcome them with open arms.

Read: 2 Samuel 7:1-14

Women History Month - Mixed Media Art

I come from a family where women abound. My mother had nine children, seven of which are women (the guys were outnumbered - sorry brothers)! Because of this, you will see women featured in my work.

In my journey as an artist, I’ve been inspired to make women the focus of my art. Most of these have been put together on my computer and cut from cardstock, then embellished with fabric and other ítems. I put a lot of thought in creating these images to represent women, especially women of color.

Here are some of my latest creations:

I Am Not My Hair

She Is Bold

Every Woman Is A Queen

A Black Queen's Beauty Shines from Within

When Motivated Women Get Together

Even though I focus on women doesn't mean that men are left out, so here is this solo player:

Blessed Is the Man Who Trusts in the Lord

Living Life on Purpose - Part 1

What is purpose? As a noun, purpose means "the reason for which something is done, is created or for which it exists." As a verb, it signifies 'what one has as an intention or objective' (i.e., aim, plan, design, etc.)

Most Christians ask or are seeking to find out why God created them, to what aim and for what purpose. Some believe that being saved means having a place in eternity. This is not the case, however. We have been saved to be living witnesses to Jesus Christ! We are on this earth for a reason. God created us on purpose (verb) for a purpose (noun). He deliberately made us and planned for us. Jeremiah 29:11 states, "For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope." His intentions for us were clear from the beginning (Genesis 1:26:28).

As stated earlier, we tend to ask what is our purpose, why God made us. The reality is that we should be asking what God's purpose is for us. God has blessed each and every one of us with gifts and talents to be used to accomplish His will for our lives: to be witnesses for Him. The gifts and talents we have are to be used as platforms to give glory to His name. For example, I love to create visual graphics with inspirational, motivational, or scriptural messages. I do this during my devotional time because as a visual person, I feel I can use these images to draw others to the work of God. Other types of gifts include leadership skills, giving, hospitality, administration, and so forth. All of these are natural born gifts to be used for God's glory.

There is so much to share about living life on purpose. I will continue with this topic in my next post. In the meantime, here is my latest inspired piece. It is a mixed media art on canvas, "When motivated women get together amazing things can happen." Enjoy!

No way to avoid being inspired

I've been missing in action for a few months, but it's not because I've not been working on creating. In fact, the reason why I haven't been posting anything is due to the opposite: I've been very busy creating!

I have been in demand making art work for others and the creative flow has been non-stop; no time for writing or posting, lol.  Here are a few of the pieces I have put together. Most of my recent work have included working with mixed media techniques that include watercolor, markers, fabric, cut files, digi artwork, and of course, my Make-the-Cut and my Silhouette Cameo.

Back in September I shared the first piece I was inspired to make. I made this and gifted it to my sister, a fellow lover of art and an artist in her own right (though she won't admit it, lol). I used cork board to make the woman cut out and colored it with a Copic marker.  I bought the fabric from Jo-Ann's and cut it by hand (this was my first attempt and though I don't sew, I tried my best).  The accessories were cut with my Cameo via Make-the-Cut and were from the Lettering Delights collection Create-a-Face-Bling.

This other one on the left was my second attempt at making my own artwork. I used a combination of files to put this together including the Create-a-Face and Create-a-Face Bling collections by Lettering Delight. I cut this one from brown cardstock from Gina K Designs. Again, I purchased the fabric from Jo-Ann's for $1.00.

From these two pieces I was asked to make pieces to give out as recognition awards to men/women in my church congregation and/or the community.  For some of these I simply used the person's photograph and created a silhouette I cut with my Cameo from Make-the-Cut and embellished with fabric, etc.

Digi art courtesy of Robert Jackson

Birthday gift for an 80 year old

Award for Cynthia Davis. The doll is a mini replica of her "Dolls of Hope" 

This last award was celebrating the leadership of the Organist/Choir Director of the Holman Choir, the senior choir at my church, in commemoration of its 55th  Concert of Negro Spirituals, held on February 22, 2015. Again, the digi art is from Robert Jackson. I used Gimp to alter the body of the digital file and painted the body with a musical notes pattern.

Prior to finished/framed work

Finished product put together by my sister Joni

I am giving full credit for inspiring me to God. Most of these pieces are followed by or include scripture and these usually come to me once I've finished the piece or based on information pertaining to  the recipient. 

I have other pieces to share and will do so at a latter date.  In the meantime, enjoy!

True to My Word

Well, here I am again, and true to my word, I'm updating you on all I've been doing for the past few months. Let's start with right after Mother's Day. I dance in a liturgical group at my church and our dance director has resigned from his position at my church after serving in that capacity for seven years. Well, as a token of our love and appreciation for him, the group wanted to get him a plaque. My creative side balked at that idea, so I volunteered to create something for him from all of us.  Here is the outcome of my creativity:

This is the mixed media piece I made. First off, using the logo and images from our group, I printed them on canvas paper (the fonts I used were not filled in which allowed me to do so with acrylic paint and/or Stickles. A day before printing, I used random watercolor doodles to add some character to the canvas. Once dry, I used a Recollections Chevron stamp and inked it with Versamark Watermark stamp pad, then spritzed it with water and stamped the canvas for some dimension. Next day, I printed to image/logo to the canvas. I then went to work. Using Stickles Platinum. I filled in the director's name. For our logo I used blue acrylic paint, then once that was dry I applied clear Stickles (which gave it that sparkle effect).

For the dancers, I used some African fabric I had stashed away. I cut a mask of the last two dancers on both sides, then traced the cut out onto the fabric with while pencil. I cut the dresses out (one red, the other green) and applied them to the dancers' image on the canvas. I then used the Stickles Platinum to add dimension to the dresses.  For the two dancers with the gold dresses, I used another medium -   Flower Soft. I added glue to the image and sprinkled it with Gold Flower Soft. Once that was dry, I went to work on the guys. For their shirts I used purple acrylic paint and followed that up with clear Stickles.  Here's a close up look at the dancers:

Once the canvas was dry, I mounted it on a piece of brown fabric. I cut the borders of the fabric using my pinking shears. I glued the canvas to the fabric, then attached it to the red African fabric. Finally, I attached it all to a woven place mat I had purchased years ago from Marshall's. To finish, I painted gold acrylic onto some Popsicle sticks, then used the Stickles to draw a pattern on them. Once they were dry, I used the pinking shears to cut the sticks and attached them to the piece. I also used acrylic on a few buttons and attached those also.

Of course, we can't have a gift without a card. Here's the finished product to the card I made. I used the Praise Dancers digital stamp by Fine Arts by Robert Jackson. I used Gimp to fill in the colors of each dancer. Once that was done, I saved it with a transparent background and added it to the background image. I then  cut that with the pinking shears and attached it to rounded card stocks (fluorescent yellow and aquamarine blue). I attached all the this to a colorful piece of fabric I'd purchased at WalMart. I finished the card by cutting out a label and stamping "We'll Miss You" to it, then embellishing it with a spot of bling.