Art As Worship #2

Redemption is calling us home.

Inspired by this song.

I would argue that both are hymns.

Mumford & Sons meets Be Thou my Vision

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This act, art as worship has transformed my interest in the daily “devotions.”  I’ve never been very good at that part, but this is new, this new ritual.  I can’t wait to discover the words that will leap off the page or out of song and into my heart.  And these things  stay with me for the whole day, it becomes part of my daily soundtrack. 

I’m reading Bittersweet, and last night I read this…

“One of my favorite Celtic ideas is the concept of thin places. A thin place, according to the Celtic mystics, is a place where the boundary between the natural world and the supernatural one is more permeable, thinner, if you will.

Sometimes they’re physical places.  There are places all over Ireland where people have said, if you stand here, if you face this direction, if you hike to the top of that ridge at just the right time, that’s a thin place, a place where the passage between heaven and earth is  short one, a place where God’s presence is almost palpable….

Thin places: places where the boundary between the divine world and the human world become almost nonexistent, and the two, divine and human, can for a moment, dance together uninterrupted. Some are physical and some aren’t places at all, but states of being or circumstances or seasons.

When we find a thin place, anything, anywhere, we should live differently in the face of it, because if we don’t, we miss some of the best moments that life with God has to offer us.  These thin places are gifts, treasures, and they worth changing our lives for.”

-Shauna Niequist

I think whatever our act of daily time with God is, it has to be like this. Done out of desire and not guilt, because I don’t believe in guilt of any kind, no, none at all, but  I do believe in finding that place where you can meet God.  The ocean. Art. Sunrise. The blank page. Quiet hours of holding sick babies in your arms. The stillness of evening. That’s where I meet God and when I show up, He is there.

This art as worship is something I look forward to, because I know it’s more than doodles on a page, it’s when I meet with the divine God and it transforms me.  It’s never about fitting in time or crossing of an item off a list. It’s penetrating the heavens. It’s worship.

What are you thin places?  What is your act of worship?

 

(All images are here and you are welcome to use them as desktop/screensaver or pass them on to a friend.)

Art as Worship

It is no mystery to you by now, that I believe art is worship.  The act of creating connects us on a deeper level to the one who created the universe.  I believe art can be a hope, a whisper of our heart, a dream, and even a prayer.

Often, I find lyrics to a song or a scripture that speak to me as I begin to sketch and paint and it comes together in a way that becomes my act of worship. My soul declares the truth of God, my heart tells of his goodness and mercy.  Some do this in a song, I do it with colors. 

This has become an almost daily act for me and I began to realize that I would love to share this you all.   I want them to be available to anyone who could use the encouragement and reminder.  I will be adding these images to a flickr account and I give you complete freedom to save them to your computer, pass them on, even print them for yourself or a friend.  Of course, I ask that you respect my ownership and the rights of any lyrics too.

I am delighted to share these with you, I really am. I don’t really care about getting anything in return, but there is a place on the right side of the blog where you may donate any amount, if you wish.  If something speaks to you in a big way or you so desire, the option is available.

Most of all, I hope you are blessed and encouraged by these pieces, this art as worship.

I will be sharing them here and on my Instagram username- Saturatedpalette ||hashtag #artasworship, if you desire to follow the adventure.

The Golden Life

It’s the best kind of fall day, warm in the sun, cool in the shade.  Shadows of leaves dance on the couch.  You could drink this stuff up and never tire.  New music from Bob Dylan and The Avett brothers.  Afternoons with my boy are calm and sweet.  Curious George and cars for him, art projects for me.  I sat in the yellow chair and he immediately joined me.  Take a picture of mama and Hudson, he asked, so we did.  He kept putting his little hand up to make our faces into squished up little duo.  He sighed and said, I love you mama.

This morning my baby girl got in trouble and she was so very sad, she asked to go night night at 10am.  She collected her favorite blanket and that smelly grey shirt and burrowed deep into my arms.  I stroked her hair. What a thing this is, motherhood, we must discipline to teach right and wrong and then cuddle to fill them up again.

These days, so full of sweet and struggle, it’s the ever-changing blend of parenthood.  Full. Tough. Wonderful.

At the bottom of a box of fabric, I found a can of gold spray paint.  It was the perfect inspiration for today. Something magical about this Thursday.  Yesterday was cool and rainy, full of conversations over coffee and tea. It left my tank full from the power of real conversation and quality time and now it’s overflowing onto canvases and through cans of spray paint.

My dearest friends and I play this game, What color are you feeling today? 

My answer can be found below.

 

 

Your turn….

His nine day vacation ended with his alarm this morning.  We returned from our week away to find parenthood just as good and challenging as ever.  Yesterday there was football watching and napping.

Today the leaves rustle a tune deeper as they begin to adorn themselves with their new fall colors.  The sun shines through the open windows and a chatty wind sweeps through the house again and again.

A new season is upon us.

New ideas. New intentions. New pursuits. New creativity.

The beginning of new is full of life and energy.  It gives us a friendly push onward and forward.  To sweep out the corners that we neglected, to initiate new goals, and take steps towards dreams.  Do you feel it in the air?

I’m overwhelmed with the sense that some dreams will come alive in this season.  Do I say that with every seasonal shift? I hope so, oh I do, because dreamers never stop dreaming and they never run out.  New ideas lead us down unseen paths and into foreign places.  We are dreamers, that is what we do.

So today, whether the leaves are beginning to celebrate their annual wardrobe change or not, what do you dream for this new season?  What ideas will you dare to utter into the wild September wind?  Your thoughts are safe and welcome here in this space. 

Friends, let’s be what we were made to be, brave, strong, and courageous.

 

Autumn print is in the shop**