Happy Easter!!!!

"God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.  Whoever believes in Him is not condemned!"  

~ John 3:16 - 18

I just wanted to wish everyone a blessed Easter!  I hope you and yours have a wonderful day!

I'll be back soon hopefully to share a new painting I did for our church's Easter art show!

Take care,

Jennifer

Me at 33!

"I knew you before I formed you in your mother's womb. Before you were born I set you apart." Jeremiah 1:5

Wow! Another year has passed and another birthday is here! Time really does seem to fly faster as I get older. It has been a great day; I've taken it easy and while my daughter was in preschool I painted and started planning a new scrapbook layout. My hubby is taking me out to dinner tonight; what is better than not having to cook on your birthday? :)

The past year has been a good one, full of blessings. I have so much to be thankful for! A healthy family, a wonderful church home, amazing people in my life. I'm blessed with an amazing, supportive husband and wonderful, free spirited little girl! I can't imagine my life without them! I also feel so privileged to be a part of the ministries God has blessed me with, from my MOMS group to our LifeGroup. Such awesome things happen within these ministries and I'm thankful He can use me to make a difference!

I've loved how this past year I've really taken time to re-dedicate myself to my creative side and made it a priority. I feel like God has given me this gift of art and I love to express it. It makes me so happy to create new things! I lose myself in the process. It has been a blessing and gift to become involved with our Collage Ministry and get to know the other artists at our church. God has provided some amazing opportunities for me through this group and I'm humbled and honored to be able to share my work with these new friends!

I'm also thankful for this amazing world of "artful bloggers". I've had the opportunity to get to know some amazing people/artists from around the world and have learned so much from the online art community! I love that I can share my work and life with others this way.

I'm excited about what lies ahead on the horizon and what the future will bring. I feel like I've stretched and grown a lot in the past year and I'm curious as to what life will be like next year at 34. I hope I continue to grow in all areas and I can find new ways to balance life...my family, my art and my ministry.

I'm finishing up a few new paintings and finally took some photos of my newly reorganized studio space, so I hope to post some new images very soon!

Thanks as always for stopping by! Have a wonderful, creative day!
Take care,
Jennifer

Rainy Day Musings

It is a cold, rainy day here in north Texas. I'm enjoying it, even though I'm missing the beautiful 80 degree weather we've had the last several days. I don't know what it is about the rain, but it makes me want to cozy up inside, get some things done around the house and be creative! Perfect for sipping Hot Chocolate as well...one of my faves! :) Next week is Spring Break and I do hope we are back to spring-like weather again by then.

I'm still sorting through "stuff" in my new studio area. I can't wait until I finish organizing. Most everything is put away; it is little odds and ends that I need to find homes for or just get rid of. I'm trying to purge a lot...simplify!!! I also have a lot of "memorabilia" from years past up until now that I need to sort through and find a better way to organize and store. Someday I hope to include most of it in my scrapbooks, but it is too much to think that will happen anytime soon. It will definitely be a process! Anyway, I can't wait to take pics when I'm all finished. What a big job it has been, but so totally worth it.

Here are two newly finished pieces. They are both on 8" x 8" canvas, mixed media with collage, acrylic paint, and painting crayons.

This is "My Strength", inspired by Psalm 43:2, that no matter what we face God is there for us to cling to.

This is "Waiting in Hope", reminding us that even though we sometimes have to wait on God, He is always there supporting us through everything.

I hope you are having a wonderful day! Thanks so much for stopping by!! :)

My Girls

Happy Monday!! I finally got a few pictures of some recently finished pieces to share. These are two paintings I did while taking Wyanne's Mixed Media Painting with the Girls class. I had so much fun and Wyanne is such a great teacher. This is my first time painting the full figure in one of my mixed media pieces. I had lots of experience drawing figures in my figure drawing classes in college many years ago, but this was new to me. It was challenging, but really fun to see their personalities develop!

Here is Autumn Resting:

She is peacefully resting under the tree with the colorful leaves falling around her. The verse is "My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will never be shaken." Psalm 62:1-2.

This next one is Spring Ballerina:

I've always loved dancers! I took a few ballet classes in my earlier years; it was great exercise! I even decorated my daughter's room in a ballet theme! I just love the grace and beauty of ballet dancers. Her verse is "Let them praise His name with dancing and make music to Him with tambourine and harp. For the Lord takes delight in His people; He crowns the humble with salvation." Psalm 149:3-4.

In both of these I used acrylic paint, collage elements (paper flowers, decorative paper, old sheet music, tissue paper, and recycled magazine clippings) along with water soluble oil pastels and watercolor pencils. As I mentioned in my last post, I'm planning to open up an Etsy shop soon and hope to find a good home for these sweet girls!

I have a few newly finished portraits to post soon and I've got several fun projects I'm currently working on. I started a piece for my newly reorganized studio space and I'm working on ideas for an upcoming show. I can't wait to share what I've come up with!

Have a wonderful day and I hope you find time to do something creative!! :)

Take care, Jennifer

Catching up!

Wow! Where has the time gone? I hate that it has been so long since my last post. The new year has brought with it the same busyness as always! I've been working hard to simplify things in preparation for some big life changes coming our way. I chose "Simplify" (from Ali Edwards' One Word Challenge) to be my "One Word" for this year. The word I chose last year was "Create" and I really enjoyed seeing the progress I made from the beginning of last year to the end with trying to focus on creating more in my everyday life. I started painting again, took several online art classes, participated in a few art shows and just made time for creativity and tried to make it a priority everyday. Now I'm adding "Simplify" to my life! I've been very busy re-doing, re-organizing, and re-thinking several areas in my home, including my studio! I can't wait to share pictures when I get things a bit more organized and cleaned up. I'm also revamping my filing system, trying my best to purge and remove clutter and just all around re-evaluating my organizational systems in all areas of my life. I feel like I'm off to a good start!

I've also been busy painting and I have a few pieces almost finished that I can't wait to share. I've been having a few blocks when in comes to finishing up and I'm not sure where they are coming from. I think I've been struggling with fear and perfectionism. Thoughts of "If I do this will I like it or will it mess up my piece? What if this changes that?" and so forth. I know I need to just push past it and create! Why does it get so hard at times? Do you ever struggle with this? I'm reading a great book, Taking Flight: Inspiration and Techniques to Give Your Creative Spirit Wings, by Kelly Rae Roberts. I so love her! Anyway, it touches on many of these things and has been so inspiring. I'm really enjoying it!

So, now that I've been building my body of work, I'm getting excited about the possibility of opening up my own Etsy shop. I've had some interest in my work and I'd really love to dive in and take this next step, but of course all of those fears and anxieties rear up again and make me wonder if I know enough to be doing this! Any advice out there from you pros? I would sure appreciate it! :)

Well, I'd better be off to get some painting done before preschool is over for the day!
Take care,
Jennifer

Happy Holidays!

I hope the holiday season finds you well and enjoying all the festivities! Hopefully things are stress-free and relaxing rather than overwhelming and crazy! I love this time of the year, the pretty lights, great music and wonderful smells all put me in a cozy, spend time by the fire type mood.

I wanted to share my latest painting with you. It is called Christmas Traditions and I created it for a Christmas art show that Collage, our visual arts ministry at church, is having.

The show is meant to coordinate with our Pastor's latest series, "When God was One of Us", and leads up to our Christmas Eve service. I wanted to capture some of the special traditions our family has this time of the year. I love to decorate for Christmas so I included the tree and the hearth along with the Nativity Scene. The verse is Isaiah 9:6 and hopefully helps to convey the reason we celebrate Christmas - the most wonderful gift we have received through the birth of our Savior!

It is a mixed media piece with acrylic paint and collaged paper, flowers, and buttons.

If you are in the Plano area, the show is at Chase Oaks Church and can be viewed through the middle of January.

Here are a few pictures of my process...

Sorry this last one posted sideways! Blogger keeps turning them for some reason! I'll try to get that fixed. :)

I hope you each have a very blessed holiday and sweet time with family and loved ones!

Merry Christmas,
Jennifer

Painting Faces

Last Spring I took Paulette Insall's All About Faces class. I learned all about creating a face using acrylic paint, something of which I had never tried before. I enjoyed it so much! I've always loved Paulette's work and to learn from her was such a privilege!

It has taken me a while, but I finally got the two pieces I started in her class complete and photographed so I could share them.

Here is Hope...

Here is Love...

I never dreamed I'd be able to paint a face like this. I'm so thankful for all I learned from Paulette and appreciate her willingness to share her art with others. She offers several different classes. If you are interested, check out her blog here.