JUST FUN.....

Finished ...... It can be easy ..... Growing instructions ..... planting seeds.....love these ....good advice...plenty of room apart so they can grow tall...... Guaranteed to grow ..... What a joy to just get to spend a day in the studio. No plans.... I just played and they came to me. As I told a friend ... "it is expressing my soul to paint".....good or bad .... all to Him. I've been called a "goody-two-shoes" for sharing my faith ..... truth is.... I'm as big a sinner as there is with things in my past I would be ashamed to share. So there, I'm not so good ..... just forgiven and full of joy because He loves me, gave me a second chance, helps renew me each day, helps to heal me, helps me love the unlovable .... even myself. Maybe you don't believe in Him, that's your choice, but I do believe in Him, and I'm not ashamed of it, because He gives me worth, I am eternally grateful. He says.... "You are worth it,......what I did." So much that I try to say sometimes is mis understood, .... I hope this is not.

But .... Where Will Wisdom Be Found?

As some of you have probably already figured out .... I have this obsessive / compulsive side of me. Especially when it comes to something I enjoy or want to create ..... or buy! Well, when I get something to create in my head and it doesn't leave me alone .... I obsess over it and if it involves money ..... I spend too much money looking at what to buy to use ..... because as I shop I am creating in my mind and thinking of all the possibilities of that little thing or things I need to buy! Then I spend too much, then I can't sleep, laying awake at night thinking how I'm getting all this stuff..... WIRE and "GEMSTONES" that are coming and I will HAVE to create and sell to justify it!!!! I was sick on a Sunday afternoon several weeks ago and a little down...... and I just prayed and ask God to please help me with this obsession I was having over making jewelry, shopping and buying gemstones ......and I just kept saying...."Why ?? Lord....Why jewelry?!?.... It has to have a worthy purpose...... Please help me understand ..... help me to know what to do? ... what is it? .... please. I reached down and grabbed an old Bible that I bought to cut words out of for collage and it flipped open to Matthew 4, specifically "The temptation of Christ", especially verse four....and then the comfort that comes after resisting temptation in verse 11. I was "WOWED' BY WHAT I READ....so I decided to sit up and read more!!! As I adjusted my position the Bible flipped over to JOB 28 .... a book I would NEVER CHOOSE to read ..... but as I read it ..... I wasn't only WOWED..... I was AMAZED ..... I mean REALLY amazed....!!!! TO THIS DAY!!! .....because..... in that chapter it talked about silver, gold, copper, stones, sapphires, flint rock (jasper), gold of Ophir, precious onyx, glass, jewels of fine gold, coral, crystal, pearls, the topaz of Ethiopia .... and then the question in verse 12, ....""But where shall wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding?" The answer was there .... in 23 ....it says "God understands the way to it, and He knows it's place ...... and none of these things can compare to it......and then finally in verse 28 ....... it has the answer. You don't even have to know the history of JOB .... to get what God is trying to tell us (specifically me) in this chapter 28 in the Book of Job. For me it was ..... don't let your obsession and compulsion take you over .... because it is not true wisdom .....enjoy what "I" (God)have created , use your creativity, but never forget where it comes from ... and that it can never be compared to the real wisdom from and of God. Knowing that God is sovereign and active in our lives and alive and well and with us in everything we consider ..... considering Him ..... who He is .... and why He is .... and accepting and believing it....IS WISE..... that should be the focus in everything I do. I've been debating for the last few weeks whether this is too much to write about ..... but I really must because, it spoke to me so strongly and I hope it has something for you. Through Him only does anything have purpose...... I just couldn't get over that I had asked ..... why .... and I got the answer He sent me!! Even details about the gems of the earth!!! .... where in the whole Bible would you find anything about the gemstones!?? He knew exactly where it was and for me to find it!! An accident?....I don't think so! Be careful what you pray for.....now each piece of jewelry I create will have a completely different feel to it as I create it!! WOO HOO !!!! As some of my friends say! If I was going to give the jewelry line a name it would be ..."JOB 28 JEWELRY "...... So here it is........ This is the first jewelry I have ever created, the wire wrapping and chain and link making and twisting is my favorite part. Now I am waiting for the jewels to come in the mail and a little more studying and practice! ..... I will describe the stones on each (Carnelian, aquamarine, pearls, crystal, glass,mother of pearl, etc..) if you just ask me to.....I love Deryn Mentock's jewelry designing techniques, who has inspired me, and a book or two by some jewelry artists I found on her blog .... where I saw the twisted link design. Deryn has a ton of great information on her blog for books and advice. Check her blog and enjoy her beautiful art! I have been inspired by so many other artists this year to stretch myself and do different kinds of art ......but giving Him the glory! THANKS TO YOU ALL!! YOU TOO GOD! ...... then there is a whole "other" teaching on how the gems have come through fire to become so beautiful.....

DON'T THROW THAT AWAY !!

DON'T THROW THAT AWAY!!......I hear an echo...... Ok, girls....after following artsy blogs and discovering the value of that little junk.....I'm NOT going to throw it all out....again! It's hopeless, I'll never get Dick's garage clean!! It has my kid's toys and junk, who are now in their late thirties, it has Dick's Mom's stuff, My Mom and Dad's stuff, kid's college stuff, my old store's stuff, Dick's stuff and all the other stuff!! Can I make that many altered books to get rid of it all? You think!? Well, I can't wait to try......so here is a little bit of my stuff, to start with.....not the vase, but the other stuff....and the glass stopper...I think that will make a wonderful circular stamp....for my book or art....this is a drop in the bucket! The butterflies are from the seventies or sixties.....the leaf is actually from Bath and Body works...is that antique yet? I welcome any ideas.....the little Dr Pepper menu holders are two cute...I have two and they are about 3x4.5 inches tall.... The other photo is of the frame I painted. I stamped a heart shape (from a potato)....just for the frame of this Heart Tree Print with the scripture from Psalms.....written along the tree's limbs.....the potato worked but was dried up the next day....so those stamped hearts are a one of a kind! Enjoy, enjoy your week!

The Healing Heart Tree...

...a little friend called today...her Mother has cancer and is losing her eyesight....we are like little baby birds with our mouths wide open for the Lord's feeding...especially when we are hurting. This is a piece I did in June...it wasn't planned....those are the most gratifying ones to draw and paint...it has healing scriptures for the heart from the Psalms...hope it blesses you. Click on art to view it larger...it is a copyrighted print available at sherry@greenpeck.com