Advent 2017

9th December 2017

Luke 1:34-37

And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”

And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.”

"She says, "This is the way of all flesh."


And Gabriel answers, "But you are about to see the ways of God."


Mary says, "No baby was ever conceived without a man as father."


And Gabriel answers, "This baby's father shall be no man, his father shall be God."


Mary says, "In every child the characteristics of both parents are manifest together."


And Gabriel agrees: "Yes, Jesus will be flesh like you - and like God he will be holy, truly the Son of God."

Preparing for Jesus, W. Wangerin Jnr.

TFL!
Bernie x

Journal Your Christmas 2017

2nd December 2017

Christmas preparation.

It sometimes seems that anybody mentioning Christmas preparation before December 24th is frowned upon and judged, especially by the more religious types!

Personally, I think, living in the real world, that Christmas is going to be a time of greater expenditure, no matter how minimal that side of things is kept, and certain items appearing in the shops before December 1st is a good thing, especially for those amongst us with less resources. Rather than adding pressure to buy more, it seems to ease the pressure.

Anyway, we have decided that those people needn't affect our enjoyment and preparation for a time that is to be all about loving others and caring, in line with our faith! The more that 'spirit of Christmas' - which includes people thinking more about how they live their faith lives - that abounds all year round, the better in our view!
TFL!
Bernie x

Journal Your Christmas 2017

Day 1!
I want to try to combine more of the written word with a piece of art to illustrate that - if possible!
2017 has been a year of such great change but my faith is stronger than ever and I have learned so much and from quite unexpected sources!

Despite certain things remaining unsatisfactory and quite distressing, I find myself heading into Advent with more positivity and joy than in previous (recent) years.
TFL!
Bernie x

Advent 2016 - 13th December, Day 17

Advent Day 17
Based on the Advent hymn Lift Up Your Heads, You Mighty Gates.
TFL!
Bernie x

Advent 2016 - 11th December, Day 15

Advent Day 15

I wanted a brighter piece today to go with these lovely words from the Taize chant Wait For The Lord!
TFL!
Bernie x

Lent 2016 - Day 10

Lent Day 10

I was amazed creating this as I had under an hour and didn't expect to get finished at all...but basically, apart from a couple of minor adjustments, the piece was finished in that time! So I got where I needed to be on time too! yay!
Bit late uploading due to other commitments yesterday, but woke earlier than usual feeling refreshed today so I can upload this before starting today's piece!
TFL!
Bernie x

Lent 2016 - Day 5

Lent Day 5

Whilst reading the devotional for today, it linked me to a few other readings, and amongst those I found this commentary by Jamieson-Fausset-Brown:

Note carefully the language here—not "joy on the part," but "joy in the presence of the angels of God." True to the idea of the parables. The Great Shepherd. The Great Owner Himself, is He, whose the joy properly is over His own recovered property; but so vast and exuberant is it (Zec 8:17), that as
if He could not keep it to Himself, He "calleth His friends and neighbours together"—His whole celestial family—saying, "Rejoice WITH Me, for I have found My sheep-My-piece," etc. In this sublime sense it is "joy," before "or in the presence of the angels"; they only "catch the flying joy," sharing it with Him!

The application of this to the reception of those publicans and sinners that stood around our Lord is grand in the extreme: "Ye turn from these lost ones with disdain, and because I do not the same, ye murmur at it: but a very different feeling is cherished in heaven. There, the recovery of even one such outcast is watched with interest and hailed with joy; nor are they left to come home of themselves or perish; for lo! even now the great Shepherd is going after His lost sheep, and the Owner is making diligent search for the lost property; and He is finding it, too, and bringing it back with joy, and all heaven is full of it." (Let the reader mark what sublime claims Himself our Lord covertly puts in here—as if in Him they beheld, all unknown to themselves, nothing less than heaven in the habiliments of earth, the Great Shepherd above, clothed in a garment of flesh, come "to seek and to save that which was lost")!

It's not the easiest to read, OK, but it made me think in a new way about the short quote I wanted to use on my art piece! I suppose I'd always read it as the angels rejoicing, but this commentary sheds new light - the angels are sharing in the joy! It doesn't stop with the angels; it's not just about the angels...there is joy in their presence - all around them!
So that's the feel I tried to create, keeping in mind that I had only a very short time and needed to keep this simple!
All CU brushes and textures.
TFL!
Bernie x

Take Me Deeper - Advent Day 15 - 13th December 2015

Advent Day 15 - 13th December 2015 - Joy Has Dawned Upon the World

I really wanted to make this light and bright, like the dawn and with a feeling of joy. I tried to encompass ideas from the lyrics, of sounds of wonder filling the air; hands that set the stars in place, the darkness of the earth, and reconciliation through the coming together of the hands. It's a bit different!

The plan to keep things simpler to enable the digital painting to continue hasn't quite worked out, lol, but I'm keeping up so far!

TFL!
Bernie x

Take Me Deeper - August Week 4

Wow another week has sped by without me seeing it! I was so inspired by one in particular of Diane Mara's videos showing  how she created a page with watercolour crayons, that I actually bought some myself...along with a few stamps and other bits and pieces! So at some time in the near future I shall become a mixed media gal and be once more playing with paint and ink on real paper! My youngest was so inspired also that she wants to play too! I think we know what our Art studies will consist of once the home edding year starts in just over a week! For now though, here's my digital piece for this final week of August! It's rather different but I like it and feel it makes a good summing up page.

August Week 4 - Peace of God, God of Peace

Having done all the suggested reading, I think it was Hebrews 13:20-21 that stood out for me most:
May the God of peace provide you with every good thing you need in order to do his will, and may he, through Jesus Christ, do in us what pleases him.

I had absolutely no ideas for my artwork! Then I looked up at the plain wooden cross I have hanging above my computer screen and the idea came to me to use that image alone with the feeling of peace from last week's piece!

It's against a background of dark, scratchy, brutality that can sometimes be this world, with dark coloured birds and flames to complete that image. The white birds represent peace and are in front of the cross, closer to us. There are three of course!


So there we have it! A relatively simple piece - the b/g made from a few textures blended with some brushwork for the splats, the fire and the birds. A custom shape to create the cross, with a bevel added, and then last week's image clipped to it. Created the hole and the chain links myself with a CU layer style added to them.

Not sure if it feels a bit dark but after the past couple of weeks, I think I needed to display the rest of the world as a dark and brooding place, with Christ's peace a bright light of happiness in stark contrast!
TFL!
Bernie x

Take Me Deeper - August Week 2

I seriously cannot believe I'm typing 'August Week 2' here! - the year seems to be flying by! It seems only a short time ago that we started this year long project and I was praying that I'd manage to keep up! Each time I upload a new piece of art I look back and see how many weeks have gone by, and each one has some artwork to represent it! Wow! That makes me so happy!

If you'd like to join us in the Take Me Deeper Class - or rejoin if you perhaps started but aren't up to date! - and it's never too late to start! - you can find the class HERE at His Kingdom Come!

For now though, I think it's time for the artwork! I particularly like this piece...as usual each week I'm amazed by what flows forth from my pen!

August Week 2 - Think About Such Things
Am loving the devotionals and the personal testimonies - I'm finding myself identifying with a LOT!

I did the suggested readings. I'd decided that I wanted to try and create a set of nature-themed pieces for this month as nature is one of the things that really beings home feelings of thankfulness and peace and joy to me.

Perhaps because of this Psalm 95 vv1-5 really spoke to me at first:
Come, let us praise the Lord!
Let us sing for joy to God, who protects us!
Let us come before him with thanksgiving
and sing joyful songs of praise.
For the Lord is a mighty God,
a mighty king over all the gods.
He rules the deepest caves to the highest hills.
He rules over the sea, which he made;
The land also, which he himself formed.

I just started reading through the Psalms and noting lines that jumped out at me:
Psalm 107 v.43
...consider the Lord's constant love

Psalm 118 v.28
You are my God, and I give you thanks; I will proclaim your greatness.

Psalm 136 v.26
Give thanks to the God of heaven, his love is eternal

Psalm 104:
v.3: You use the clouds as your chariot and ride on the wings of the wind.
v.4: You use the winds as your messengers and flashes of lightning as your servants.
v.12: In the trees nearby the birds make their nests and sing.
v.13: From the sky you send rain on the hills,
and the earth is filled with your blessings.
v.24: Lord, you have made so many things!
How wisely you made them all!

I toyed with the idea of a seascape or a tree scene but then the image of cow parsley came to me. I couldn't find the photo I had in my head that I took a few years ago now, of the plant, dried, and standing proud against the blue sky background, so I had to recreate it from memory!

The cow parsley is a bit stylised but I like the effect and hopefully it's recognisable!! The way the plant stands tall and stretches towards the sun and when filled with the white flowers looks so pretty and happy always inspires me!
Lots of CU textures and brushes used as well as CU edges!
TFL!
Bernie x

Take me Deeper - July Week 2

I honestly had so much fun making this page! I seem to be finding a new style, freer, which I love! I'm sure there will be more pieces in this style!

July Week 2 - Cultivating Honour

I did the word search and the predominant words were love one another - which would seem to sum up the way we need to live to honour God and also each other.

So I wanted an image that spoke those words! No ideas of course! So I started playing with the HKC Praise Him digital images and resized, warped and even cut off an arm and moved it around to form the impression I wanted! I can't believe how quickly this came together! It seemed too simple at first; too easy, but I soon realised that nothing else was needed or would work so this is how it stays!

Arms wrapped around each other, these 2 live in love together. With one arm raised in worship, they both live in love of God. They are both enveloped in the light of God and I hope a feeling of joy as well as love comes through!

Other than the HKC Praise Him image, I used my own papers, plus CU brushes and edges.
TFL!
Bernie x