Sauli

Last month I had the great honour of being able to join an elite group of artists - just 500 worldwide - in order to further my progress in Photoshop Artistry.

I have been busy creating various pieces for various projects ongoing within the group, but most are not on a religious or faith theme.

This piece however, touched somehing quite deep and seemed to coincide with events concerning the Roman Catholic Church this week. So I decided to post it here.

I appreciate this blog has been rather neglected of late - my 93 year old dad's illness, near death and hospitalistion has affected life to a great entent.

However, I shall do what I can when I can.

Anyway, back to this piece! This is the background to it...

Sauli -This piece is named for Saint Alexander Sauli who became a bishop in a diocese where faith had died. He inspired the people to new faith, corrected abuses, rebuilt broken down churches, and founded colleges and seminaries.

As the word fractal originates in the Latin verb frangere - to break, shatter, I wanted a title encompassing that. With the women speaking out this week against the damage males are creating within the RCC, this Saint's name appealed! I discovered the name Sauli is actually a female name in some countries and liked everything that encompasses!

TFL!

Anna

Anna
This morning I carried on reading the Book of Tobit - I'd stopped about 2/3 of the way through as I'd been so inspired to create some art lol! I also read more of the other two books I've been reading all week. Again, although on completely different subjects and having no connection to each other, the places I was at in my reading both covered the same theme - waiting.

The times when we can't control what's happening, eg waiting for test results about an illness, waiting to hear from others we care about. At times like these we can do nothing but wait. It can feel like an emptiness. But this waiting can still be a service; a time of prayer, doing what we're supposed to be doing at that time.

In the Book of Tobit, Anna is Tobit's wife and the mother of Tobias. Her son leaves for a far off place and she is distraught. The Book describes how every day she went to the road Tobias had taken out of town and waited for him to return. As he was delayed in returning, due to getting married, she must have become more and more fraught with worry. But all she could do was wait. Just imagine the joy, though, when her son finally returned!

So this piece is how I imagine Anna. Sitting at the roadside all day long, every day, simply waiting to once more see her son. She worries and can't look after herself - she weeps and doesn't sleep all night - but she waits.
TFL! 

Bernie x

Sarah

Sarah

I tried something different today! Having prayed for inspiration, I opened my Bible at a random page. It fell to the Book of Tobit - not a Book I was overly familiar with! The 'story' within the Book is quite compelling!

Sarah, the woman in my piece, marries Tobit's son, Tobias. Sarah has been married 7 times before but was possessed by a demon, which killed each man who tried to get near her on their wedding nights.

When Sarah was told she was to marry Tobias, she must have been so fearful in case the same happened again - the events had had public as well as private implications for the family.

My piece is my imagining how Sarah must have felt through those times of grief, shame and sadness; she must have felt demorialised and perhaps resentful, wondering how and where this would all end. Yet there is a small glimmer of anxious hope when she sees Tobias arrive...
TFL!
Bernie x

A New Beginning...?

With this piece came the firm conviction of my Faith Art path moving forwards. It will mean revamping my Artboja site and stepping up and showing my light well and truly to the world! I'm ready!

Title: No Longer Loved?

This was inspired somewhat subconsciously by readings I am ploughing through at present! One is by Jane Williams, Approaching Easter, the other, by Brother Ramon and Simon Barrington-Ward, Praying the Jesus Prayer Together. I hadn't even realised when I read the individual chapters in each stage of each book, but they were actually saying the same things!

Often, our view of love is all about feelings and sentiment, and when we feel we are no longer loved, we look for things to make us feel that emotional need. We want that feeling of excitement.

But the love God has for us is more than that. John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life."

God's love for us is this wish to see us completely fulfilled, walking with him and with others, and so drawing in others to this family of believers. A family of people who know they are so special to God.

When we feel so loved, we can help others realise they too are so loved. As we come to know that love, we long to become what we truly are and to take that into the world, to others. Taking God's light into the darkness.

In my piece, the woman feels she is no longer loved. Reminiscent of Jesus and his crown of thorns, placed upon him by others, she wears a 'veil' of hard, scratchy twigs and leaves that seem to signify her unworthiness, as placed upon her by others and felt deeply.

Yet dotted within those twigs are little white flowers - little beacons of light. Perhaps all is not lost after all?

Although there seems so much darkness around her, a darkness that contains hard, painful thoughts, feelings and emotions, a darkness that surrounds and envelops her, touching her very body, there is also light. That light also touches her, heals, and gives hope for the future. She realises that although she may suffer now, this will pass and she will be made whole again by His love.
TFL!
Bernie x

"Nevertheless She Persisted: Sadness" - A Series Is Born!

Following on from my 'angry' piece the other day, I decided it might be fun to create a little series, expressing different emotions. The angry piece was in warm tones, red typically representing anger; this piece I've done in blues to represent sadness. There's something about those eyes though that says strength and defiance through the sadness. That first piece will now be called "Nevertheless She Persisted: Anger."

To the sad lady, I added flowers to represent the beauty and harmony of women :) as described by the Pope in the previously linked article :) Then I added a representation of the crown of thorns - for the sacrifices women worldwide make both in what they do and in what they are not permitted to do. There are scratches and drips of blood from the thorns - scars that may never fade. The background is rather chaotic as society, both within the RCC and without, fight for this cause or that, trying to make the world a better place - and yet it doesn't happen fast enough, if at all.

Perhaps a dark piece, or perhaps a positive piece after all - to me the woman is strong in her sadness!! She's not overcome - yet!

(I've reposted some of the words I used before as they are the standard).
TFL!

Bernie x

It Had to be Done!

Well, usually I find negative emotion a real creative dampener, but this morning's anger at this article: http://www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=31899 proved quite useful! 

I've called this piece Nevertheless She Persisted: Anger.

It seems to me that within the RCC women are seen as nothing more than talking heads that don't need a response or consideration. Women can't be called in the same ways as men because only men know the eternal will of God and the limited power of the Spirit of course! Women can be used to do so much of the work in the Church, without which parishes all over the world would fold, and children grow up with no faith taught to them... In my Diocese, the problems within our parish have been ignored, accepted as collateral damage in the Archbishop's desire to send a certain priest to our little historic place of worship. People have been harmed and the stable parish community torn apart by these men with such strong desires for power that nothing else matters. Even asking for prayers for our parishioners was deemed too revolutionary and incendiary by the Latin Mass Society, (who contributes to the funding of our parish - for those who prefer the EF Mass, of course), on social media, as they deleted the first request and then barred the poster from writing anything at all! Many people have written letters to try and save our parish as it limps towards insolvency - both financial and in parishioner numbers. Multiple women's opinions can be ignored - and have been - but one man's letter of concern brings about a tiny spark of thought and even a modicum of action from the Archbishop and a personal 'phone call from the Bishop to that man! Still nothing is done about our situation, of course, but he is afforded the dignity of being listened to and spoken to, unlike the women.

Anyway! this is what came from all that anger! As long as our bodies keep on doing what is necessary for the RCC to survive, the voice can be ignored.

To the screaming person, I added flowers to represent the beauty and harmony of women :) as described in the article :) Then I added a representation of the crown of thorns - for the sacrifices women worldwide make both in what they do and in what they are not permitted to do. There are scratches and drips of blood from the thorns - scars that may never fade. The background is rather chaotic as society, both within the RCC and without, fight for this cause or that, trying to make the world a better place - and yet it doesn't happen fast enough if at all.

Finally, the words 'keep it real' for the Pope :) he lives a life far detached from reality and leads so many sheeple to think in ways that cannot work in the real world - ways that are harmful and destructive in the real world. His opinions of women have been relayed many times before and his romanticised view of women's lives is frankly insulting - the 'strawberry on top of the cake' for one example!

Perhaps a dark piece, or perhaps a positive piece after all - at least the woman is shouting out!! She's not silenced - yet! 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

Daily Scripture Reading/Writing Plan

I started a daily Scripture reading/writing plan today. I'm hoping to keep up with creating a simple piece highlighting the verse for the day, as well as a more arty piece with no words, that captures the feel of the verse. Let's see how that goes!

Today's Scripture was Psalm 29:10-11 - The Lord rules over the deep waters; he rules as king forever. The Lord gives strength to his people and blesses them with peace.
TFL!
Bernie x