Give Thanks to the Lord, for He Is Good!

Need I say more? 


Actually, I need to apologize for not writing more -- not because I have a massive following hanging on my every word, but because there is so much praise to be done! 


Classes are wonderful; these people are wonderful. Haven't had a lot of time for painting or printing (pictures when I recover my camera charger from Georgia), but when that has happened, it has been wonderful too. This is hard. It is a big change and a lot of work, but it is "miraculous." It's from my Father. 


But I want to particularly thank God for the way He has carefully provided for my every need -- the close-cutting way in which my resources - my expenses come down to the dollar is elating. He knows what I need (how many time the past three weeks has He provided just a few days before for a need I didn't know I had?), and He gives me what is good. 


Better than that,  He IS Good. Please don't think that in praising His provision I am preaching the prosperity Gospel. If grad school wasn't where He wanted me; if I were hungry, sick, and alone, I could still praise Him. What I am given is good, "for He satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul He fills with good things." It is because of who God is, not a wealthy and comfortable lifestyle, that Paul is able to say "Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ." 


Psalm 107 (verses 1-16) says it so much better than I could: 


¹ Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,
   for his steadfast love endures forever!
² Let the redeemed of the LORD say so,
   whom he has redeemed from trouble
³ and gathered in from the lands,
   from the east and from the west,
   from the north and from the south.
 ⁴ Some wandered in desert wastes,
   finding no way to a city to dwell in;
⁵ hungry and thirsty,
   their soul fainted within them.
⁶ Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,
   and he delivered them from their distress.
⁷ He led them by a straight way
   till they reached a city to dwell in.
⁸ Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love,
   for his wondrous works to the children of man!
⁹ For he satisfies the longing soul,
   and the hungry soul he fills with good things.
 ¹⁰ Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death,
   prisoners in affliction and in irons,
¹¹ for they had rebelled against the words of God,
   and spurned the counsel of the Most High.
¹² So he bowed their hearts down with hard labor;
   they fell down, with none to help.
¹³ Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,
   and he delivered them from their distress.
¹⁴ He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death,
   and burst their bonds apart.
¹⁵ Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love,
   for his wondrous works to the children of man!
¹⁶ For he shatters the doors of bronze
   and cuts in two the bars of iron.

Hooray for fall classes!

Classes are fast approaching and, along with a painting, and a multi-colored lino, I've been working on a collection of school-themed cards. :) Pictures of these projects, and my wonderful, new studio-closet to come!

The Summer of My Discontent

Dear friends and guests, 


I know that most of the people who visit this blog are my friends who know me well, to you, may I say thank you for your prayers this summer. I should say that just as amazing as the events I am going to describe was God's faithfulness to me in the summer of my discontent. To those of you who have never met me, my first blog post may give a bit of background on this situation. I'm going to jump right in in the middle. 

Just three weeks ago I still wasn't sure God wanted me at seminary in Mississippi earning my master's. It didn't even seem possible. I didn't have a car; I wasn't getting responses from the places I was applying for work. I wasn't able to get a work study position, and there were a few people who, upon hearing my doubts, were offering me other (increasingly attractive) options. But starting two weeks ago things began to move so rapidly my head is still spinning.

First, my father stunned my whole family by pulling put thousands of dollars he had saved, that we didn't know about (sorry, Dad, for making this public... but it should be. I'm "letting your works praise you at the city gates"), and buying a used car for me in cash. And my parents are offering to help me every month if I am short on money for tuition. Initially, and still, to some extent, I was (am) resistant to accepting their help. But their free and loving generosity has been so humbling, and as I am being humbled I've begun to see it for what it is: such a beautiful picture of Christ's love. Thanks to both of you, Mom and Dad, again and again. You both love me so well.   

Then, during this past week the wonderful woman who runs the work study program here, was incredibly helpful in passing on contact information for potential employers to me. I was hired by one of them yesterday! One day after moving to Mississippi! 

Finally, I had started an Etsy store about two months ago, hoping that (in addition to being so much fun!) it would provide a supplemental income. I didn't sell a single thing for two months (except for my wonderful/incorrigible mother and aunt buying things), and then last week I sold two items -- just enough to cover a few remaining bills from the summer. 

He is so good! And even more wonderful, as over-awing as the past two weeks have been, He was just as faithful during this summer. He broke my pride in my financial independence, and was preparing this for me even as I was furious at being (seemingly) left alone. I was reading Exodus 15-18 this morning. His constant provision, and my faithless fear has been the theme of my summer, and I can happily say that I am just like the Israelites in the desert, or the disciples in their boats. Like them, because I am faithless; happy, because as He loved them, He loves me. He told me to cast out my nets; I thought He left me; and they've come in full to bursting. 

:) Thank you, again for your prayers. I love each of you so much, and know that, although it might not happen in the same way, He is loving all of you just as well & faithfully. 

May we all learn to laugh at the days to come. 

Working Inside the Box

Life is interesting when everything you have has to fit (more or less) into 5 large plastic bins for a week of moving across the Southeast. Trying to keep my art supplies accessible, yet still  ready to go, is a cycle of packing and unpacking. My back aches a little, and my brain feels a little bit like it's been stuck in a blender. 


Providentially, tomorrow I get to go swimming with family, and Wednesday I'll have time for printing! A small restoration of sanity is on its way. 

"Determined, Dared, and Done"

The wheels are beginning to turn, and soon I'll be flying down the interstate with all (well, most of) my worldly possessions to Jackson, MS to make a go of this grad school thing. We'll see if I can get off the ground, or if I find my wings clipped.  

Either way, the next few months are going to be exciting, and I am looking forward to sharing the changes here and seeing how they'll give me new ideas for my work. Whether or not everything works out as I envision it now, I know that things will be so much better than 'alright'.

        Photo by flagstaffotos; used with permission under the GFDL. 

  

In that line of thought, I went looking for a poem this morning, before finishing packing, and 

this is what I found: 

"Song to David" by Christopher Smart. This is just an excerpt: 

For Adoration, David's Psalms   
Lift up the heart to deeds of alms;   
    And he, who kneels and chants,    
Prevails his passions to control,   
Finds meat and medicine to the soul,   
    Which for translation pants.   
  
For Adoration, in the dome   
Of Christ, the sparrows find a home,    
    And on His olives perch:   
The swallow also dwells with thee,   
O man of God's humility,   
    Within his Saviour's church.   

Strong is the lion—like a coal   
His eyeball,—like a bastion's mole   
    His chest against the foes: 
Strong, the gier-eagle on his sail;   
Strong against tide th' enormous whale   
    Emerges as he goes.   
  
But stronger still, in earth and air,   
And in the sea, the man of prayer,
    And far beneath the tide:   
And in the seat to faith assign'd,   
Where ask is have, where seek is find,   
    Where knock is open wide.   
  
Precious the penitential tear;
And precious is the sigh sincere,   
    Acceptable to God:   
And precious are the winning flowers,   
In gladsome Israel's feast of bowers   
    Bound on the hallow'd sod.
  
Glorious the sun in mid career;   
Glorious th' assembled fires appear;   
    Glorious the comet's train:   
Glorious the trumpet and alarm;   
Glorious the Almighty's stretched-out arm; 
    Glorious th' enraptured main:   
  
Glorious the northern lights astream;   
Glorious the song, when God 's the theme;   
    Glorious the thunder's roar:   
Glorious Hosanna from the den;   
Glorious the catholic Amen;   
    Glorious the martyr's gore:   

Glorious—more glorious—is the crown   
Of Him that brought salvation down,   
    By meekness call'd thy Son:   
Thou that stupendous truth believed;—   
And now the matchless deed 's achieved,   
    Determined, dared, and done!

Hog Hammock -- Printing!

It is finished. 


.....Well..... almost. I reserve the right to do a few prints in this edition in brown, maybe with some added zing with the help of a few watercolor washes. For now, I'm fairly satisfied with this  AP (Artist's Proof) I've pulled. 


Here are a few photos of the printing for your viewing pleasure. If you have any questions about the process, leave a comment and I'll get back to you right away. 

Finally Back: Carving Hog Hammock

Well, its been about a week, please excuse my absence. I've been driving through Appalachia to visit family and working my day job. But now I'm back, with more on my on-going project. I finally found linoleum in the dimensions I want, and began the carving process!


Perhaps you'll remember my earlier post on planning and sketching for this piece. With this done, carving the actual printing plate is made much simpler. 


To carve a printmaker needs a cutter (one with exchangeable tips or several different cutters) and artist's linoleum blocks. Having tracing paper also makes everything a lot easier. I first traced my sketch onto the tracing paper with a soft graphite pencil. 

Then, I flipped the tracing paper over on top of the linoleum, and rubbed over all my lines with a smooth, rounded object -- in this case the flat of my fingernail, but you could use the back of a spoon or the butt of your cutter, etc. 

The wonderfully convenient thing about this method is I now had a reverse-image of my sketch on the linoleum. This way the finished print will look as I planned, instead of being flipped. And I avoided having to try to redraw the inverse image on the plate by hand. Since my linocut features a lot of small, relatively detailed figures, I did go back over some of the lines left after rubbing so I had very tight lines to follow in carving. 


Now I was ready to take my knife to it! 


This linoleum was particularly gritty, and dulled my tips a bit. Dull tips lead to slipping and cut hands -- I'll probably put something up about how to sharpen your tips soon. 

My plate isn't quite finished yet -- I have some details on the building and the people to finish -- but it's getting there! Check back over the next couple days to watch the progress.