The tears of God

A few years ago I held an exhibition – the theme was the cross and its effects on my love. I took aspects of my life and painted them but also wrote poetry for each artwork. This piece is called “the tears of God” and tells the story of how as i child I used to sit on our doorstep and wish that I could be rescued from the hell i lived in and the abuse I suffered. I longed for someone to love me and all the time I was loved by the one who had created me. I look back now on that child and am thankful that she found the love she was looking for, love that healed and brought laughter and joy.

the tears of God

silently she sits

on the doorstep

alone in her fears

her voice silenced

her emotions

locked up inside

the prison

that is her life

thinking

that no one cares

she doesn’t see

the tears of God

as he longs for her

longs

to wipe away her tears

and dispel her fears

waiting

waiting for her

to discover he’s there

heart of hearts

he hurts as she hurts

heart of hearts

he longs to comfort

and heal

heart of hearts

shown

in the tears of God

Free the creative you!

Creativity is such a wonderful part of being a human – animals don’t have it, fish don’t have it! Nothing else that was created has the gift of creativity except humans. The sad thing is a lot of people don’t believe they are creative. I have eight sisters and brothers – everyone of them is creative in many different ways, they write, paint, sculpt, do woodturning and more. Yet there is one of them who feels she was left out of the creative gene pool. She looks at the rest of us and makes comments like “you guys are all so creative and I’m so not”. The crazy thing is she knits wonderful things (sometimes without even using a pattern) and makes amazing beadwork jewelery and artworks. But because she has to use a pattern she thinks that disqualifies her from being creative. It doesn’t!

Creativity is not about using a pattern or not using a pattern. Creativity is about making something. It’s about taking a substance and turning it into something that expresses and satisfies the creative urge within you.

You are made in the image of the Creator – you were given a part of him that is unique to humanity – the urge and ability to create. Make sure you place a high value on your creativity – after all no one else can express your creativity. Only you can do that and without your creative voice the world is a less rich.

“It is the creative potential itself in human beings that is the image of God.” – Mary Daly

“Unless we are creators, we are not fully alive” – Madeleine L’Engle

His banner over me is love

For the last few days I’ve had the old but classic Kevin Prosch song “His banner over me is love” playing over and over in my head and this morning I gave in to it and let the reality that those words portray wash over me. So I thought I’d try and portray it using word art. The concept isn’t new by a long shot but I had fun coming up with words that described the love I was feeling. SInk into Jesus’ love and soak in it. Enjoy!

Outrageous Grace

I love the outrageous grace of God that’s found in Jesus. I had so much fun designing this  as part of the advertising for our coming “Outrageous Grace – religious detox day” thats coming up next weekend.

The writing on the front of the box says this – ” Outrageous Grace – religious detox – Flush out your system – guaranteed to bring clearer thinking, sharper focus, more strength – guaranteed 100% pure blood cleansing power”.

The copy on the side of the box says ” Flush the religious toxins right out of your system with this amazing product. It is made up of 100% pure bliss. No additives – grace in its purest form. Satisfaction guaranteed!”

Life, so they say…

Years ago ‘Seals & Croft” sang these words “Life so they say is for fools and they let it slip away…”. This collaged artwork done on Photoshop was created out of the frustration of helping a young girl who had become pregnant – she wanted to keep the baby and recognised the preciousness of it’s life but both her parents and the boy’s wanted her to have an abortion because the cultural shame was so great for them. Her and her boyfriend stood strong and now they have a beautiful child who they love with all their hearts, more so because they fought for her life at that early stage of development. They are now reconciled with their parents and no doubt the parents dote on the child too although that is purely a guess – try telling me any grandparent can really stay unattached by the heart to their grandchild. So this piece is simply called “Life”. I hope it speaks to you of the preciousness of each life – born or unborn.