Ta Da

This is it . . . the first piece that is on the blog. I realized a while back that so much of my work is the story behind it.

This work is based on one of my favoirite verses in scripture . . . Mark 15:28 ". . . and the curtain of the temple was torn in two." In the ancient Jewish temples/tabernacles there was a space in the front of the main worship area. It was separated from the rest of the room by a curtain and called the Holy of Holies. When the Jews were wandering in the wilderness the tabernacle that they set up would have this space and it is believed that they kept the Ark of the Covenant in that area. Once they built the permanent structures, the space was built in. It became the place where they believed God was. No one was allowed in that space except the highest of high priests, and then he was only to go back there once a year. Everyone else was separated from God by the curtain and had to rely on the high priest and the other priests to be the intermediary between them and God. So when Christ died on the cross, the image is that the curtain in the temple was torn and now there was nothing to separate people from God. And while Good Friday was such a dark day, the hope that comes from it is beyond words. Because it isn't about just the people who worshiped in the temple, but it is about everyone . . . and it is very personal because it is about me. That is what this piece is about. It is about hope and about there being nothing in between me and God (unless I put it there). It is made with paint, molding paste, beeswax and velvet for the curtain. I'm still working on learning how to photograph my work so the detail is visable. Obviously the detail in this photo isn't very visable. But here it is . . . ta da. By the way, thanks Lori for the push.

Yesterday Ended Last Night

The title of this post is an amazing quote that I heard as a part of the sermon yesterday morning. What powerful words! They speak of incredible forgiveness and freedom. How often am I completely and utterly weighed down by the junk of the past. Stuff that I can't change or really do anything about. The only really healthy thing that I can do is learn from it, claen up what I can and move forward - Do my best to do better today. For those of us who need a visual, lay it all at the foot of the cross and give it up to God in Christ Jesus. Thank you Pastor John for this amazing thought to carry with me into my week. While Sunday morning had inspiring words, Sunday afternoon had a lot of inspiring visuals. I saw some beautiful artwork and met some wonderful artists. One woman did lovely digital work but what inspired me about her was how she described herself. She was version 2.0 and loving it. How I can relate to that = I feel like I am completely a 2.0 and loving it. Another woman was an artist who worked with healing stones. She was beautiful and had this amazing spirit. I was with my mother and daughter and we all were so drawn to her work. So much so that my mother bought me my Christmas present - a beautiful Citrene necklace. It was a stone that drew me in. I put it on as soon as we stepped out of the booth and didn't even want to take it off when I went to bed.

(The picture doesn't do it justice.) I have to say though, for all of the wonderful things that the day held, there was a piece of me that felt so guilty because my to do list was so long. I have a show on the first weekend of December and I should be working what I will be selling. I am behind. But it was such a lovely day and so many wonderful things happened. I have to believe that even though I made very little progress on the to do list, there were so many things that fed my soul - it has to make my work better. Even if it means that I will have to work harder on other days.