Take Me Deeper 2016 - DNA - Week 9 February 26th - Creative Prompt

TMD 2016 - DNA - Creative Prompt - 26th February - I Am God's Masterpiece

Based on Ephesians 2:10:
For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

Kept it simple and loved using the bright colours! Red is my favourite colour and yet I so rarely use it like this! The orange splat was actually a heart shape and I was a bit miffed when I made this piece that blending in the white meant I lost some of that side of the heart...but looking at it today with fresh eyes, I like it! It makes me feel that God's light is touching my heart!

I used an outline font so I could 'colour in' the letters..I deliberately made some go outside the lines to represent my sin and failures whilst acknowledging that I AM God's masterpiece!
TFL!
Bernie x

Take me Deeper - September Week 3

Remember, if you'd like to join us it's never too late - each piece of art I've produced has been a blessing to me in its own way! You can find all the info HERE! Just join HKC if you're not already a member and then register for the class!

September Week 3 - The Promise of Wisdom

The one verse that I worked from that just felt so meaningful and the opposite of how the world thinks and acts was 1 Corinthians 1:26-30 - 

Now remember what you were, my brothers and sisters, when God called you. From the human point of view few of you were wise or powerful or of high social standing. God purposely chose what the world considers nonsense in order to shame the wise, and he chose what the world considers weak in order to shame the powerful. He chose what the world looks down on and despises, and thinks is nothing, in order to destroy what the world thinks is important. This means that no one can boast in God's presence. But God has brought you into union with Christ Jesus, and God has made Christ to be  our wisdom. By him we are put right with God; we become God's holy people and are set free.

I had exactly the image in mind for this piece and again used the same five textures in a different combination in respect to layer order, opacity and blend mode. Plus a couple of CU brushes and the HKC Digital image of course which just seemed so appropriate!

TFL!

Take Me Deeper - September Week 2

What a difference we're seeing here in the UK as Autumn creeps ever closer! The mining bees are now out in our garden in full force, resulting in a retreat by all of us, even the dog! The mornings see a bit of a nip in the air, but our days this week have been wall to wall blue skies and sunshine!

I followed one of Diane Marra's videos yesterday, having bought some watercolour crayons a week or so ago after seeing her working with them, and have made a couple of backgrounds for pages! I really enjoyed myself!! So there IS life after digi lol! It's years since I last used paint/paper/glue and it was so much fun!

I'm rather inspired at present by what my youngest daughter (who is home educated) and I are seeing under our new microscope! The patterns that we never knew existed within nature as they're usually invisible to the naked eye are so captivating, I'm seriously thinking of buying another microscope for myself that can attach to my PC, and then using the images to create some digital papers/elements! They'd definitely be unique lol!

For now though, here are my artwork and my thoughts for this week's devotionals - very timely and apt considering my situation at present!

September Week 2 - The Promise of Forgiveness

This was very timely for me and I came back to it three times to re-read! From the reading I did I gleaned that God promises us forgiveness, but it is conditional upon our response. It is our choice to forgive and the Holy Spirit will help us.

I read John 6:37 - "All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out" - whoever = anyone; He turns nobody away.

And 1 Peter 5:7 - Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

I wanted to encompass a feeling of freedom that can come from our forgiving, and also the blessings that can come from that. I wanted the piece to feel personal, with a real sense that we are cared for.

So, I used a solitary figure, alone on the hillside, 'coming to the Father', and the white light 'spots' around her are representing the blessings flowing from her forgiving another. There is a wispy smoke-effect raising heavenward, representing both the Holy Spirit helping her, but also the freedom she is gaining through her actions.

I kept to my personal little challenge and used the same 5 textures, just in a different order and with different blend modes. I like how the piece has the same feel as last week's piece but is different!

I used CU textures and brushes, and one of the HKC digital shapes.
TFL!
Bernie x

Take Me Deeper - July Week 5

July Week 5 - Honour Ourselves

To sum up the month and also represent all the different ways in which we should honour ourselves and so honour God, I used three of HKC's Praise Him digital figures.

This month's pieces have been so intuitive and have just seemed to leap off the page each time once I started up Photoshop! It's been a very different way of working and I've loved every minute!

On this piece I also used my own papers, plus CU brushes and borders.
TFL!
Bernie x

His Kingdom Come Book Club - The Creative Call

Well, I was keeping up so nicely and then life hit full on and I got all sidetracked! I've been doing the reading and writing some in my day book, but since Chapter 3 haven't managed the exercises. Partially because of the time factor and the way I'm feeling - I want to take it seriously and really think about what I write for each exercise, and partly because some of them have me scratching my head lol!
I'm loving this book though! I'm also finding that a lot of it is coming together what the weekly Take Me Deeper Devotionals and really providing so much inspiration and food for thought!

Anyway, I had an hour this morning and managed to create two pages that will face each other when I have all my pieces made into a photo book :) It will be filled with my writings - something to hand down to the girls!

As always, for consistency, stash used is by  Createwings Designs.

TFL!
Bernie x

Take Me Deeper - June Week 1

This week has been a pretty hard one in several ways, which has really sapped my creativity, but, as always seems to happen, I reach a point where I can look back over things and be amazed that I'm still standing! Hopefully I'll feel able to open up the Photoshop again soon and feel the inspiration for my next Take Me deeper piece! For now, here is what I created for this week:

June Week 1 - Family

I did the suggested reading, but am always drawn to Genesis so that was bubbling away in the background somewhere!

In addition, of all the verses, John 3:16 almost seemed to jump out at me! - For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have eternal life.

This week I had no image in mind when I opened up Photoshop...absolutely nothing, despite these readings. I sat for hours and played with a couple of photos of mine but it really wasn't what I felt was right. So I gave up that day and left it.

A couple of days later, the words to a hymn started going round and round in my head...no idea why, although it may have been inspired by the HKC Book Club (we're reading The Creative Call) - I seemed to find a lot of TMD and the Creative Call coming together this week! Anyway, it was the hymn based on Psalm 139 by Bernadette Farrell: O God, You Know Me and You Search me. I found verses 1,2, & 5 really spoke to me:

O God, You know me and You search me.
All my thoughts lie open to your gaze,
when I walk or lie down you are before me,
ever the Maker and Keeper of my days.

You know my resting and my rising.
You discern my purpose from afar,
and with love everlasting You besiege me:
In every moment of life and death You are.

For You created me and shaped me.
Gave me life within my mother's womb.
For the wonder of who I am I praise You.
Safe in Your hands, all creation is made new.

Then I searched some old photos of mine of a fantastic sunset, and played with those, and the cloud formations I'd captured, to create this piece. Imagining the creation of the world, and the starting of life appearing on the planet, I wanted something gentle and peaceful with both light and dark...it wasn't easy! This took me a good couple of hours and right until the end almost it was a paler, more pastel coloured piece! But my feeling was to bring in more darkness, so it ended up like this!
TFL!

I'm taking part in Thankful Thursdays - a meme originating from His Kingdom Come.
We're trying to spread the idea of listing 3-5 things we're thankful for from the past week - it's such a good thing to do, remember and be thankful for the good things in our lives (and even the not so good, if something positive came from them!)

So, here are my 5 things - please think about joining us and spreading the word!

This week I've been thankful for:

1. The skills God has blessed my family with, and their willingness to use them in times of trouble.
2. The work done by so many around the world to improve the lives of animals harmed by humans.
3. Time spent with my youngest daughter, on the bed, watching a DVD and eating chocolate!
4. The kindness of strangers.
5. God, our Father. Knowing He has the reins when everything is falling around about our ears and that whatever comes to us in life, He will get us through it.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. Phil. 4:6

Take Me Deeper - May Week 3

Well, here we are again! After a week that has seemed to drag, it's finally Friday! After this week especially, I feel I need to be thinking about the self care that has been our focus this month in our Take Me Deeper pages. For all the hard 'stuff' we've been through this week, though, we have still been shown the kindness and compassion by others, including people who don't even know us! One more thing to be so thankful for!

So, on to TMD!

May Week 3 - Fearfully and Wonderfully Made - Know Thyself

From the suggested readings these were the ones I felt most drawn to and wanted to include the 'feel' of within my art:

Romans 12:3-8 - And because of God's gracious gift to me I say to every one of you: do not think of yourself more highly than you should. Instead be modest in your thinking, and judge yourself according to the amount of faith that God has given you. We have many parts in the one body, and all these parts have different functions. In the same way, though we are many, we are one body in union with Christ, and we are all joined to each other as different parts of one body. So we are to use our different gifts in accordance with the grace that God has given us. If our gift is to speak God's message, we should do it according to the faith we have; if it is to serve, we should serve, if it is to teach, we should teach; if it is to encourage others, we should do so. Whoever shares with others should do it generously; whoever has authority should work hard; whoever shows kindness to others should do it cheerfully.

1 Corinthians 12:4-7 - There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit gives them. There are different ways of serving, but the same Lord is served. There are different abilities to perform service, but the same God gives ability to all for their particular service. The Spirit's presence is shown in some way in each person for the good of all.

1 Peter 4:10-11 - Each one, as a good manager of God's different gifts, must use for the good of others the special gift he has received from God. Whoever preaches must preach God's messages; whoever serves must serve with the strength that God gives, so that in all things praise may be given to God through Jesus Christ, to whom belong glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.

And probably the one that inspired me the most:
Ephesians 4:10-13 - So the one who came down is the same one who went up, above and beyond the heavens, to fill the whole universe with his presence. It was he who "gave gifts"; he appointed some to be prophets, others to be evangelists, others to be pastors and teachers. He did this to prepare all God's people for the work of Christian service, in order to build up the body of Christ. And so we shall all come together to that oneness in our faith and in our knowledge of the Son of God; we shall become mature people, reaching to the very height of Christ's full stature.

Having kept with the theme of hills and mountains, peaceful places, and calm-coloured pieces this month, this last passage gave me the kernel of an image.
I had the thought of being in a specific part of the hills and mountains I've used in my May pieces so far. I started to create the landscape using random brushes with various photos warped and blended in (bunches of flowers, old Victorian images of bouquets around a field of flowers etc - these images and the lady obtained from Antique Images and Graphics Fairy websites for this piece). I like to think of this process as the digital equivalent of journalling or drawing on a page and then covering it up with gesso and paints - nothing specific can be seen but it still contributes to the overall feel of the piece!

Then I found the beautiful image of the lady and her whole demeanour seemed to be exactly what I was feeling! She was within an image of the sea, so I got rid of that so I could use her as she is now, looking as if she is within a rather craggy landscape, perhaps amongst the hills or mountains shown in other pieces this month!

The white wispiness is back from previous months to represent the Spirit, as mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12:4-7 - the Spirit is around her, shown in her, giving gifts. The rock she is leaning upon and actually the whole area where she is has brighter colours, the reds and oranges, representing the Spirit and the gifts and the fruit of those gifts spreading out around her and into the world.
The landscape further afield is kept in the peaceful, lonely place colours - she is there to learn about herself, to begin to know herself better. To me she looks as if she is pondering something, perhaps in prayer. However, that landscape does lack the brighter colours, representing the Spirit, that are around her - she is receiving gifts from the Spirit that she can then take out into the world and 'colour' it with the fruits of the gifts given to her.
I've kept the birds and stars in the sky from the earlier pieces this month to represent the entire universe filled with God's presence, spoken of in Ephesians 4:10-13.

TFL!
Bernie x

Thankful Thursdays

I'm taking part in Thankful Thursdays - a meme originating from His Kingdom Come. 
We're trying to spread the idea of listing 3-5 things we're thankful for from the past week - it's such a good thing to do, remember and be thankful for the good things in our lives (and even the not so good, if something positive came from them!)

So, here are my 5 things - please think about joining us and spreading the word!

This week I've been thankful for:

1. Family and friends, who pull together in difficult times.
2. Being blessed with the time and space for us to recover from said difficult times.
3. Time spent with my daughters painting at the dining table, all together, rather than me on my computer making digital art!
4. The beautiful weather, after last week's gales and rain, that has enabled my daughters and I to go exploring with our cameras.
5. My sanctuary - the patio area under our enormous tree at the top of our garden. My husband fractured his hip in two places whilst pulling down the large old summer house that was up there. My cousin spent weeks making a patio on 3 levels, as the slope dictated. Now, with the lovely weather, I am able to enjoy it every day. I can sit under the tree, shadows dancing on the walls, feeling the warmth of the sun, and just take it all in. The perfect place for peace and to de-stress!

Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples! Psalm 105:1

His Kingdom Come Book Club - The Creative Call

I joined the Book Club at His Kingdom Come - you can find details and where to sign up HERE!
We're reading and working through a book called The Creative Call and started Chapter 1 on Monday (4th May). It's very thought provoking and I'm feeling very inspired already!

I won't be blogging everything I create but I made this page for the Digital Faith Art Weekly Challenge this week and it uses the words at the start of Chapter 1 of the book! You can find the Challenge details HERE! - as usual there's gift from Hummie of a gradient this time! It's a great technique to learn!

I'm using stash from Createwings Designs for my Book Club pages.

TFL!
Bernie x

Take Me Deeper - Week 3

Well, what a week is has been! Let's just say that I've been having to focus (my Logos 365 word!) really hard on the Lord lately to cope with everything affecting our family at present! Even down to looking into Home Educating my youngest because of problems with school - something I really hadn't seen becoming a distinct possibility!

Anyway, as I've been waking at 3.15am all week, I've made good use of this quiet time to enjoy reading all the extra suggested passages within the TMD prompt. A pattern seems to be forming now where not a single speck of an image for a piece of art around the prompt will even suggest itself until I've done all the suggested reading...and once I get started with the reading, it's all too easy to carry on past the suggested passages! I'm loving it!!

I loved reading all the extra suggested passages, and the 'feel' of an image around a veil and light and keeping the butterflies started forming! Once the idea had formed in my head, I was a bit concerned about how I would translate that onto the page...but thankfully, Altered Amanda's Studio had just the stash I needed to make the vision come to life!

You can find the Take Me Deeper Project and prompts here. 

For this piece, once I had it laid out as I liked, I lightened part of the veil to give a feeling of reflected light - we will reflect God's glory when we are transformed into His likeness. The lady has lowered eyes - submission - and the veil is coming off (ie doesn't cover her whole face any more), showing an ongoing process, started but not yet complete. The light is there to focus on, and the butterflies leading towards the light signifying the transformation that will come once we are joined with Christ (when the veil is lifted).

I'm enjoying this project so much and finding it such a help when life is throwing so much at us at present! if you haven't already, do come and have a look and join with us! you don't have to do digital art if that's not your thing! Whatever response you feel led to is great! Poetry, paint on paper, mixed media, wood carving, fibre craft...the list goes on! There's loads of inspiration in the TMD gallery at His Kingdom Come...just take a look!

TFL!

Bernie x

One More Thing...

...early in December, one of the ladies from His Kingdom Come contacted me to ask if I'd consider becoming more involved with the site. I was given an idea of what would be required and thought about it very carefully and prayed a lot before responding.

As I've said, commitments aren't easy for me because of what I have going on in the 'real world' (as opposed to online!), and I can't bear to let anybody down or be less than reliable. But I couldn't shake the feeling that I was being led further along on this journey and this opportunity was to be a big part of it. So I took the plunge and applied and have just found out this week that I've been accepted as a Moderator for the His Kingdom Come site, for the Digital Faith Art Group!

It's a little daunting and I'm trying to catch up with what needs doing as fast as I can type lol! But it's so exciting and I have a real feeling of anticipation that this is all leading somewhere I really need to go!

I had a lovely phone call from Mary in the US, who understands completely about being raised within the Catholic faith, and about me now wanting more from my faith...a more personal experience...just MORE! The whole Community at HKC are so lovely and welcoming and kind, and I'm really looking forward to progressing, to knowing what I'm doing, lol, and seeing where this takes me!

During this time I've also joined the Salty Sidewalks Group at HKC (have a look here!). It's a Community Outreach Project - but International!! I love this idea! Creating my first piece for that inspired me to make other pieces...also taking inspiration from the Themed Thursday Challenge at Hummie's World (go here to find it!)...they're what I'm calling my 'Inspired' Art. For each piece I sat down and prayed before starting for my hands to be led...and these are what came out! Again, with each piece there were times during the creation that effects appeared that I definitely was not expecting and were just what the piece needed! Love it!

My First piece for Salty Sidewalks. Saw these words and loved them!

My First 'Inspired' piece - using words from the last verse of O Holy Night (so rarely heard).

Take Me Deeper - In So Many Ways!

Next I heard about two new (free!) projects starting in January 2015. I knew I wanted to do them but they're year long and my past record with year long projects isn't good, lol! But I really felt drawn to take part...almost obliged in a way, if you know what I mean? The urge was so strong I had to at least try!

The first is called Take Me Deeper and you can read all about it here. Each week we receive a devotional, a Bible verse, worship video, and lots of inspiration to study and share His word. Then we play! It's entirely your own choice how to respond to the prompts, whether that be through digital art like me, or paint & paper, mixed media, a photo, poem, music...anything! Just imagine at the end of the 52 weeks, what a record of our faith journeys we will have!

This sounded so much like just what I needed so I joined up!

To accompany Take Me Deeper, or as a stand alone project if you prefer, is Logos365 - have a read here! Based around having one word for the year, this process allows 'God to work in your life and for your focus to become His word for you that lasts an entire year in your life.' Now this really interested me! At a time when everyone seems to be discussing New Year's Resolutions, I wanted something more meaningful. Been there, done that with the resolutions lol! Always fail within days!
A lot of people were saying they would combine the two projects and let them flow together so that's what I decided to do also, yet not having a firm idea in my head how this would actually pan out in practice! Little did I know I was going to be shown exactly how this would work on the day take Me Deeper launched, 2nd January 2015!

For now, here's the cover I made for Take Me Deeper, and then we'll go to the next post to describe events as they turned out!

I was thinking and praying about what kind of image would best represent going deeper into my faith. At first I was thinking water, deep water. But then an image came to mind with such a strong feeling to it - a burning hot sun drawing me in, and yet the heat not harming me at all! So I took that and went with it and this is what I came up with!

His Kingdom Come discovered!

Through other people taking part in Pause, Ponder & Prepare I found out about a new site -  His Kingdom Come (you can find it here!). I was instantly drawn to this 'international community of faith' and joined.

Then I heard about a workshop there - Kingdom Come (do have a look at it, here!). I knew I wanted to give this a go, even though it would be different to anything I'd ever done before. The workshop is run by such a talented lady, Shonna, who actually uses paint and paper etc etc to create gorgeous pages...and I'd be trying to create in Photoshop!

Well, I really enjoyed making my pages for the workshop! I almost caved and got out the paints and all the rest of my craft stuff from my paper crafting days but couldn't resist the challenge of creating new things in digital! The 4th piece is probably my favourite as I achieved something new for me in Photoshop - I sketched the girl and painted her myself! Then I just used brushes to create the rest of the scene! I still have one more piece to create for this workshop, as Christmas got in the way!

Here are my pages to date though, and then I'll carry on with my story!