For Wednesday, Nov. 10

This Wednesday I will not be in class, but our very talented Jenny McCleary will be teaching.  She will be using Acts 20:35 as the inspiration for what she has designed.  Here is the her drawing.  She will add some color.   I hope you all will be there.

I will be back on Nov. 17 with one more Thanksgiving inspired lesson.  Have fun without me!!!

Give Thanks

Psalm 100

I had to memorize this when I was a child in Sunday School. It sounds very familiar and comfortable. The Bible says that this is a Psalm for giving thanks.

Psalm 100

 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!

  Serve the Lord with gladness!

    Come into his presence with singing!

  Know that the Lord, he is God!

    It is he who made us, and we are his;[a]

    we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

  Enter his gates with thanksgiving,

    and his courts with praise!

    Give thanks to him; bless his name!

 For the Lord is good;

    his steadfast love endures forever,

    and his faithfulness to all generations.

I think these verses are talking about knowing God and being convinced of His goodness and His mercy.  When we fully understand this there is nothing that can take away our joy and our thankfulness.  We often get excited about a football game or a football season, a wedding, a birth, a raise or a bonus. But this is talking about a special feeling that is beyond happiness that comes as a reaction to understanding the goodness of God, understanding that we are in a personal relationship with the creator of the universe, who gave his only Son so that no matter what life brings on this earth that we are free from the burden of sin, and will spend eternity with our God who loves us.

I was inspired for this week's journal entry by an artist I saw on Etsy.  The last name of the artist is Horvath.  I painted in the style of this artist because it seemed to be something that my students in class could easily duplicate.  My work is in acrylic paint and outlined with a Micron pen. I use craft acrylic paint (like Delta, Apple Barrel, or Folk Art.) I did no prep on the Bible page.  I painted directly on the paper and there was not bleed through and little wrinkling.  I  had a pattern for everyone in class to trace.  Some in the class painted with watercolor, some with acrylic and some colored with colored pencils.  They were all different, but beautiful.  

Derwent Inktense Waterolor Pencils

These wonderful, highly pigmented pencils are on sale today on Amazon!

Inktense Pencils from Amazon

These are wonderful for Bible journaling.  On sale just today, Nov. 4.

A Time to Harvest

Ecclesiastes 3
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.

The older I get the more I am able to understand the significance of these verses in Ecclesiastes.  In my senior years I can look back and see how God was managing the happenings in my life to work together for my good and the good of His kingdom.  It is much easier to have patience from this view in my life.
A sweet young mother who is a professional photographer took the cutest pictures of her girls in the apple orchard a few weeks ago.  I was looking for an idea for artwork for the Ecclesiastes verses, and her photos were perfect.  She gave me permission to use this shot of her little Bayliegh
 as an inspiration.  Thanks Jana!     www.EKbeePhotography.zenfolio.com
This is prismacolor pencils with an 01 Micron pen for the letters.

Here are the precious photos that Jana took in the orchard.  Her older daughter is Ellie Kate (with the broken arm.)

  I wanted to use her too, but could not fit her in.  I loved the way Bayliegh was posing.

Lesson for October 28 - Romans 8:28

Romans 8:28

This is a scripture that is sometimes very difficult to understand or even to read.  But what God is telling us is that everything that we experience in this life is not unnoticed by Him.  And through God's  love and grace we are strengthened and gifted with unspeakable peace in all circumstances.  Will we be spared pain, heartache, disappointment, illness because we love the Lord?  Probably not, but anything that life brings our way will be cushioned with  God's love for us and the knowledge that He is in control and is with us as we pass through our darkest hours.   This life is temporary. God is preparing us for eternal life with Him, a perfect existence without the pain and worry of this life.

For the artwork this week, I designed something very easy to reproduce with mostly lettering that can easily be traced and colored. This Wednesday is "Trunk or Treat," and I am supposed to face paint so I may be a few minutes late to class. So if you show up before me, it will be simple to grab one of the patterns and get started.  I also encouraged everyone to use this week to complete any unfinished pages from previous weeks.

If you are interested in designing your own visuals, here are some ideas I had:
puzzle pieces
Celtic knots
braids
gears

You creative people in the class always inspire me.  Can't wait to see what you come up with. Remember if you are reading this blog, please leave a comment.

Here is the image for this week.  I outlined with a Micron Pigma pen 01 and then colored with Prismacolor Premier pencils. Easy Peasy!

Here is the black and white pattern:

Next week we are going to paint.  If you have watercolors or watercolor pencils, please bring them. If not I have paint you can use.  You will need a paintbrush. The Aqua Brushes are nice.  Here is a link to a set of 3 on Amazon.  But they are available at Michaels and Hobby Lobby.  You do not need a set of three. One is enough.

http://www.amazon.com/Pentel-Aquash-Water-Assorted-FRHBFMBP3/dp/B00AX31TZO

In the Beginning

Wednesday, October 21
This is our entry for this week.  

It was inspired by a zentangle I saw online.  The zentangle method is an easy-to-learn, relaxing, and fun way to create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns. It is a very relaxing and meditative way to draw because of the repetitive nature.  

I am providing a sketch for you to copy or just to inspire you.  I did not have a scripture in mind when I first started this design in my sketchbook. I used a circle template with lots of different sizes of circles.  If you don't own one of these, look around your house for small rolls of tape, tops for jars and bottles, etc, to use instead. I used a ruler to draw the straight lines and tried to vary the space between them.

As I continued to draw I began to see planets, the separation of land and water, the miracle of the creation story in Genesis 1.  So I grabbed my journaling Bible and found a beautifully blank page at the beginning of Genesis. I  deliberately made some radiating lines from the center to resemble the cross. In these passages God says, "Let us make man in our own image." Christ was with God in the beginning.  The cross and God's plan for our salvation was planned before the beginning of the world.  So as I drew, I made radiating lines emerge from the central circle to form  a loose cross shape. I filled in may of the areas with small circles and inked around them with black.  They reminded me of bubbles or maybe even stars as God separated the water from the dry land and the heavens from the earth.   I added the water and a little color at the end.

If you don't have a blank page or enough room in your margin for the entire design, you could do one of two things:
1.  Create a slice of the design in your narrow margin.

2.  Do this on vellum and use it as an overlay. Tape it on with that invisible tape by 3M.

This week

If you are reading this post, please leave a comment.  I haven't been able to see who is following tis blog like I can on other blogs.

The lesson  this week is on 1John 4:17-21.  If you have access to the Message, read it in that version.  The text we will be adding to our artwork is "Love is the Key to being Fearless" and "the one who loves God should love his brother also."  I would love to see what images you create.  Here is the one I will have available in class. I was inspired by one I saw on Pinterest.  I can't give the name of the person who created the original because it was not on the post.

Here is another sample of what my students are doing.  Becky took the planned pattern and added to it and gave it her own take on 2Timothy 3:16.