Lent 2017 - 18th March

Saturday 18th March
One of my readings for today was Revelation 3:20-22: Listen! I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with them, and they will eat with me.

Originally I had the idea of a person in despair sitting at a table laid with food, just waiting. But that didn't come together! The image of the lady sitting in her window, head down, hugging her knees, as if distraught really called to me! So I went with that.

Somehow a male God just didn't have the right feel for this piece, so I went with 'controversial' and opted for the female God (perhaps a subconscious nod to the international call for women priests in the Roman Catholic Church!?!). Whatever, we are all made in the likeness of God, even women lol, so it is what it is :)

So, She is waiting 'outside' for the door to be opened, and the young woman is gently touched by the light (and colour) of the Holy Spirit - she will open that door!
I tried giving the piece a more painterly feel, which I liked, but I preferred the somewhat harder feel to the piece, for its theme. I also LOVE this in b&w but wanted to use the colour to represent the Spirit and God's touch upon us in all circumstances, no matter our failings. We have only to look up and we will see Him.
TFL!
Bernie x

Photo Artistry Course Inspiration

Inspired by Session 14 of my PhotoArtistry Course, I created this out of a need for some light and brightness, some colour, in the world at present.

I saw some art online that inspired me and so created this! Titled 'Called Out of Darkness', there are a lot of emotions tied up in this piece!

Social media has exploded with reaction to President Trump's words and actions and so much of that is pretty hard going. There seems to be so much darkness within that atmosphere, but also so much darkness still to come. Like clinging tendrils, the darkness pulls us in, and it would be so easy to be swallowed up by it. Thankfully there is light! The light of Faith! The gentle cords of light prevent the darkness taking hold and gradually bring the lady more and more fully into the light. Feeling free, she dances and overcomes!
TFL!
Bernie x

Lent 2016 - Day 9

Lent Day 9
This was actually going to be a dark piece with lots of bright oranges & yellows and flames amongst the darkness...but it just didn't feel right. So I made a composite of all my layers in that first piece and blended it into a pale texture and ended up with this! Much better! From the dismal greyness of life without God to the bright, happy colours of a life lived fully for and with the Father!
All CU textures and brushes.
TFL!
Bernie x

Take Me Deeper - October Week 2

Catching up with myself again slowly after the sickness laid me low. Feeling better now but still left with a nasty cough and all the rain we're having doesn't help! Autumn has hit with a vengeance lol!

October Week 2 - Love

I looked back at the artwork I'd done in February and read everything I wrote back then (it seems a lifetime ago lol!) and was clueless as to an image! Then I read one sentence that just seemed to sum up everything perfectly:
"A dark world can be transformed into a world of light and colour by one single thing - love."

So I just opened up Photoshop and looked at the various textures images I had for interesting shapes and colours within them.

Then I just played! I created a b&w foreground and darker edges to represent the 'dark world' and then  lots of different colours and light were added through texture images and also brushwork to create a cheerful feel. The butterflies seem to suggest happiness as well, but also the continuing transformation of self. Then I just added some stars to hint at all creation being there and transformed into the "world of light and colour."

I seem to be being brought back to basics with these rewind prompts...no long spells of reading or researching or thinking involved...just openness to creating when my emotions are saying I can't do it because I don't feel like it!

TFL!
Bernie x

Take Me Deeper - April Week 2

Well, due to various issues I didn't have the Holy Week I'd hoped for! Easter Sunday was different also...and I still think to myself how weird it is not to be up early and getting ready to play all the hymns at Church for the Children's Family Mass (I 'retired' from playing the organ June 2014)! It would always be quite nerve-racking as there would be so many pieces to play and I had to have the music in the right order to make for faster transitions!
Still, it's a good job we have faith in God enough to sustain ourselves through this time of despair, and can lean on Him to bring us through. I am so thankful for everybody at His Kingdom Come who inspire me so much with their words, their artwork and their kindness. If you would like to join this wonderful community and perhaps take up the Take Me Deeper 2015 Project or another class or three (!!) you can find it all HERE!

Now, to my Take Me Deeper Page for April Week 2 - From Death to Life

I read Romans 6-8 as suggested and noted down a lot of points, including:

- if we have died to sin we cannot live in sin

- we are to think of ourselves as dead, so far as sin is concerned, but living in fellowship with God through Christ Jesus.

- sin must no longer rule in our mortal bodies, so that we obey the desires of our natural self. We must instead give ourselves to God and surrender our whole being to Him to be used for righteous purposes.

- No longer do we serve in the old way of a written law, but in the new way of the Spirit.

- If Christ lives in you, the Spirit is life for you.

- ...the Spirit also comes to help us, weak as we are. For we do not know how we ought to pray; the Spirit himself pleads with god for us...And God, who sees into our hearts, knows what the thought of the Spirit is; because the Spirit pleads with God on behalf of his people and in accordance with his will

- Those whom God had already chosen he also set apart to become like his Son, so that the Son would be like the eldest brother in a large family.

- He gave his Son - will he not freely give all things?

Then from 2 Corinthians 5:14-21:

- Anyone who is joined to Christ is a new being; the old is gone, the new has come. All this is done by God, who through Christ changed us from enemies into his friends and gave us the task of making others his friends also. Our message is that god was making the whole human race his friends through Christ.

- Here we are then, speaking for Christ, as though God himself were making his appeal through us. We plead on Christ's behalf: let God change you from enemies into his friends! Christ was without sin, but for our sake God made him share our sin in order that in union with him we might share the righteousness of God.

Then from Collossians 2:13-15:

You were at one time spiritually dead because of your sins and because you were Gentiles without the Law. But God has now brought you to life with Christ. God forgave all our sins; he cancelled the unfavourable record of our debts with its unbinding rules and did away with it completely by nailing it to the cross. And on that cross, Christ stripped the spiritual rulers and authorities of their power; he made a public spectacle of them by leading them as captives in his victory procession.

Lastly Ephesians 2:1-10:

- In the past you were spiritually dead because of your disobedience and sins. At that time you followed the world's evil way; you obeyed the ruler of the spiritual power in space, the spirit who now controls the people who disobey God. Actually all of us were like them and lived according to our natural desires, doing whatever suited the wishes of our own bodies and minds. In our natural condition we, like everyone else, were destined to suffer God's anger.

But God's mercy is so abundant, and his love for us is so great that while we were spiritually dead in our disobedience he brought us to life with Christ. It is by God's grace that you have been saved. In our union with Christ Jesus he raised us up with him to rule with him in the heavenly world. He did this to demonstrate for all time to come the extraordinary greatness of his grace in the love he showed us in Christ Jesus. For it is by God's grace that you have been saved through faith. It is not the results of your own efforts, but God's gift, so that no one can boast about it.God has made us what we are, and in our union with Christ Jesus he has created us for a life of good deeds, which he has already prepared for us to do.

I then looked for some commentaries on these readings and made some notes on these including this from Matthew Henry:

Paul speaks of the great foundation doctrine of the Gospel. if we believe we might be justified by the faith of Christ and belief in Christ, is it not foolish to go back to the law, and to expect to be justified by the merit of moral works, or sacrifices, or ceremonies?

Paul saw that justification was not to be expected by the works of the law, and that there was no further need of the sacrifices and cleansing of it, since they were done away in Christ, by his offering up himself a sacrifice for us.The effect was not a careless, lawless life. It was necessary that he might live to God and be devoted to Him through the motives and grace of the gospel.

Finally: No man, whom we have reason to believe to be justified by faith in Christ is to be refused either Christian association or Church fellowship.

having read all this and starting to think about an image to represent it all (!) I decided it needed to be kept simple. Firstly I thought about surrendering your whole being and what kind of image could represent that. Next I thought about new life and new creation and images for that. I knew then that I wanted a person looking free, no self consciousness present, fully surrendered to God and new life. I wanted flowers strewn around, as if flying through the air with abandon; in celebration of being free and no longer a slave of sin. Finally I knew I wanted light, bright colours - the darkness of sin has gone!

So this is my piece! The dancing lady just felt so free and full of life! She is dancing on the flower, representing new life. There are small flowers strewn around, flying through the air around her, in celebration. The colours are bright and cheerful with no hint of darkness. The Spirit is represented around her as in previous weeks' pieces. Other accents were added to add to the feeling of light, happiness and abandonment to God. This dancing lady is truly living a new life!

Dancing lady is a CU vector, the flower b/g paper is my own, and everything else is CU brushes.

TFL!

Bernie x