Category: Painting

Work and a Gift

Actually the title should be something about how work is a gift from God, which it is.  How bored we would be and how little enjoyment we would have if we didn’t have something to do with our hands.

I am excited because the Lord has gifted me with several bits of work to do that may lead to other bits of work in a field I adore.  This is especially exciting because it combines skills I have developed over time (which is always nice– I would much rather do that which God has prepared me to do than some random new thing for which I am not designed), books (which if you don’t know already I am passionate about), and creativity (design using Gimp as well as with my pen and paints).

A friend of mine, Grace, owns a small publishing company, Splashdown Books, and was talking about all the work she had to get done this month and I (per usual) volunteered to help.  I got to layout a book cover (which I enjoyed a lot more than designing websites) and got to do a small painting that will be incorporated into the covers for the series.  And then she paid me for my work on the very first night which I was not expecting (like I said I volunteered) and for which I was grateful.  And it looks like she may have other work for me (at the very least the rest of this series which is also exciting, and fun.)

Ever since I was a child and wrote “BCL” in every one of my picture books (B___ Children’s Library) and then proceeded to organize them by author (and type for the non-fiction) I have adored books and wanted to have something to do with them. For a long time I thought I wanted to write and though I do I do not consider myself a “writer”.  I don’t care enough about writing itself to research the best ways to write, writing styles, getting published and all that.  On the other hand I AM passionate about art, a well designed book cover (I will often pick up a book based on a great cover), and encouraging good writers (and there are a lot though there are also a lot of  the other sort of writers out there.)  So it is exciting that God is leading in that direction at this time (I don’t know what He has planned for the future but I am enjoying where I am.)

That, combined with doing the box art for the card game (more art from that over here) is making for a very busy me. The sooner the box art is done, the sooner we can get it published so I am working to get it done quickly, and praying over the work constantly.

Also cool is that Shamus has had several possible offers regarding paying gigs (for both writing and his videos).  We are prayerfully considering each, especially since we are feeling very led to continue in the direction we are going.  He has also been writing about 2,000 words a day on his book, which is coming along nicely.

Finally my mother-in-law showed up with some cash from my father-in-law this morning.  She  said, “He just told me that I was to give this to you kids.”  So that is pretty awesome and appreciated.  Have I mentioned that our families are wonderful and have been such a blessing to us?   Regardless, I will say it now, they are wonderful and a blessing. 🙂  (Later on Rachel came home (she had spent the day helping her grandma and practicing piano at my mother-in-law’s church) she came laden with perishable groceries that my mother-in-law had gotten us: eggs, salad, fruit, and cheese.  Did I mention they are awesome?!

And now back to work. Trying to finish the final element of the box art before Sabbath so I can touch it up then get it scanned after Sabbath.

Regarding the card/painting project

that I mentioned all the way back here at the beginning of summer.  It is coming down to the final bits– I only have a few cards left to paint and have all the photos I need to work from (praise the Lord, this happened suddenly and perfectly and I barely had a thing to do with it other than mentioning that I needed photos and why).  This means that once I manage to get all scanned and sent off (and probably rework some and edit others) I will be finished with this and able to move on to the next thing, which hopefully includes something else that will bring in some more money as well as an artist page on Facebook (which I keep meaning to do but haven’t yet due to all focus being on the cards and research).

I still haven’t managed to send off even a single photo of the work to the client/friend/person-who-designed-the-game because every time I attempt to do so something happens to keep it from happening (like losing ALL the scans without saving or the camera batteries suddenly dying and all the spares mysteriously disappearing–both of which have happened at least once among other things.)  This is making my poor husband exceptionally nervous as the pile of cards and card elements sitting here not in any digital form scares him.  Hard drive crashes and lost files don’t worry him near as much as sudden gusts of wind blowing all the cards away or the cards spontaneously combusting or who knows what might happen.  So, I am leaving them in God’s hands and will get them in the computer when it happens.

This also means that I don’t have any photos to share with you (plus I am not sure about actually sharing the images until the game is actually being published– I know lots of artists do share highlights or sneak peaks or whatever but… since this is my first such deal I don’t want to mess things up by sharing before it’s time.

And so, back to work.  I have a character sitting here waiting to be inked and another sketch waiting to be painted and then a few more to sketch, paint, and ink and then I am done except for the box art– which I doubt I can do until we know what dimensions the box will be.

Happy Mother’s Day

Happy Mother's Day
My Mother's Day gift to you.

As you may or may not know I am not a fan of holidays. I don’t like that, especially for mother’s, they give us unreal expectations. We get so caught up in our expectations that we forget how God has blessed us and how He has provided for us. God has blessed us so very much and yet we get frustrated and disappointed because the world tells us that we should get this and that and Mother’s Day should look like this or that and in the end, no matter how wonderful our families are, we end up disappointed and discontent–because no one on earth is capable of living up to those expectations that the world has given us. Regardless of your situation, regardless of how much you get or don’t get, regardless of your place in life, God is still in control and God loves you. And regardless of how perfect your Mother’s Day is or isn’t your children are a blessing from God and you are God’s blessing to them. And so, regardless of my feelings for what I feel is just another “media and marketing get people to spend money by guilting them into it” day I wish you a Happy Mother’s Day and want to remind you that YOU are greatly blessed and a blessing to your family–regardless of whether they recognized it today outwardly or not.

Unschooling Notes

Since I have been so busy I am trying to make quick updates (and because of Flock it is MUCH easier to do so.)  First, I finished another painting here.



The girls have been spending a lot of time recently on the Build-a-bear site so Issac has been spending lots of time with me.


Today he spent some time writing with watercolors at my desk.

He then asked to go to Pappap’s.



It was cold (really cold–19 degrees F cold).



But it was a beautiful, sunny day for a walk.


And Issac had a good time helping Pappap burn a pine tree that had fallen earlier in the month due to wind. He also worked out a ton of energy jumping on their trampoline.

Happy Valentine’s Day

Honestly I am more likely celebrate it being Friday the 13th than Valentine’s Day–at least Friday the 13th is interesting and different.  But since I am not a pagan and not the least bit superstitious I don’t really celebrate either.  Once upon a time I did, I longed for someone, anyone, to give me a nice, romantic  Valentine’s Day gift and was always devastated when no one did (even if I got something it never lived up to my romantic aspirations.)

About 4 years ago, maybe more, God dealt with my heart on this issue.  Honestly, there is no way ANYONE or ANYTHING can live up to such romantic twaddle as the world would have us believe and get all caught up in.  And honestly, if it weren’t for the world telling you it was important, would you REALLY care?  We are loved and cherished beyond anything by our Lord and Saviour, and HE never runs out and buys us flowers, chocolates , and a romantic card.  Instead He blesses us with beautiful wildflowrs, incredible sunsets, His wonderful Word, and all sorts of small daily blessings–so many that if we just open our eyes to see we are amazed at His love for us.

And so, nowadays instead of moping about not getting a gift I don’t really care about on a designated day that I don’t really care about, I realize how blessed I am to have a husband who loves me every single day and shows it, and a God who loves me even more than my husband, and who goes out of the way to show me every single day.  And I challenge you to do the same.  Even if you don’t have a great relationship if you are a child of God then you are LOVED.   I challenge you to find women in your life who have no one, who struggle, who need to know that they are loved, and go out of your way to show them your (and God’s) love for them.

And I offer you a Valentine’s Card just from me to each of you, and offer it to you to share with whom ever you feel needs to know that they too are loved.

Click here to view my gift to you.