what I'm thankful for

I’m thankful for forgiveness, grace and mercy becuz I am in dire need of them all.

I pray that I will practice forgiveness, grace and mercy with others.

I'm thankful for my mistakes as they've made me who I am and I like who I am now.

I pray that others will learn to forgive themselves, live without regret, and, most of all, like themselves!

I’m thankful that I live in this time, in this country where women have the same freedoms as men to vote, to speak, to pursue their dreams.

I pray that this will continue here and that all people everywhere will be free from oppression & repression.

I’m thankful for the constitution that guarantees my right to practice my religion.  Or not.   Where I am guaranteed the right to speak my mind, to protest my government, to assemble.

I pray that we will remember the price paid for those freedoms and value them accordingly, that all people everywhere will have these same freedoms.

I’m thankful for my parents, Uni & Bill Ball, who not only taught me the rules but taught me to love without condition, to think for myself, to value the thoughts of others, to have compassion for those less fortunate, to appreciate the differences – not to mock them.

I pray that I might be a loving parent, spouse and friend as modeled by them; that I will value what makes people different from me and not try to force them into a mold.

I’m thankful for my husband, Patrick Schoenfeldt, who loves me, not inspite of all my weirdness but becuz of it, who tells me I’m beautiful so often that I believe him, who knows my dreams and works toward them with me, who inspires me to be loving, who understands that domesticity is not as important as passion.  (If you want to know more you can read the blog posts about how he saved our marriage here)

I pray that I will love him as well as he loves me and that he will always be here with me.

I’m thankful for my children, Nathan Opdyke and Dani Turner, who give me so much joy, who actually like to spend time with me, who are affectionate and smart and kind and good friends to their friends; that I can see myself in them yet see how different they are from me and from each other (tho this took me some time to see).

I pray that they can learn from my mistakes, that they will know the love I’ve known, that they will have all they need and then some, that they KNOW they are loved beyond measure.

I’m thankful for my home that is a haven from the craziness of the world, that’s cooler than the summers and warmer than the winters, that is often filled with family & friends, fun & laughter.

I pray that people everywhere will have a safe haven, a place to weather storms; that they can too be surrounded by those they love.

I’m thankful for art – both in the big sense of the word and that I am pulled to do it; that I now have time & space to do it; that it’s brought me in contact with other creative people who contribute so much to my life on so many levels.

I pray that I will never cease to have new creative ideas and the time to try them.  And that people will “get” it and be willing to pay for it.  J

I’m thankful for work for both Patrick and myself; that Patrick loves architecture & gets to practice it at a firm that actually has work; that I’m good at accounting & that in these tough times I am able to pick-n-choose between assignments; that I don’t have to do it 60 hours a week any more (see the previous section).

I pray that we will always be able to do what we love and know that that is more valuable than money.

I’m thankful for friends, the ones in-person and the ones on-line who I’ve never met up close; for all they contribute to my life and my art; for the support they’ve given me and the times they’ve set me straight.

I pray that I will be a good friend, honest, loyal and giving.

I’m thankful for Facebook & Blogger where I’ve reconnected with old friends, met new art friends and been able to get to know two younger cousins.  I’m also thankful that I can hide, unfriend, block or ‘mark as spam’ those who only contribute negativity.

I pray that I will be a positive contribution to the online world and appreciate the differences in our great, vast world.

I’m thankful for my mind.

I pray that I use it well and it lasts as long as my body – or longer.

I’m thankful for Diet Coke™, margaritas and dark chocolate (tho not margaritas with dark chocolate).

I pray that I can learn to exercise moderation.

I’m thankful for high heels.

nuff said  J

I hope you have a wonderful day with family, friends and food

filled with laughter and memories

and that your grattitude is known by all

Easter

This video is sooooooooo cool – you get to see the artist’s process of making this picture of Christ. And the picture itself says a lot about how Christ is for everyone.

It’s about 6 minutes long but it goes very quickly.
You may want to turn your volume down before you play it



"You are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here. HE HAS RISEN!!!"

Sin has lost its victory; Death has lost it's sting.
Have a wonderful Easter

This changes everything

Let it change me

I Then Shall Live

By Gloria Gaither & Jean Sibelius

I then shall live as one who's been forgiven
I'll walk with joy to know my debts are paid
I know my name is clear before my Father
I am His child and I am not afraid
So greatly pardoned, I'll forgive my brother
The law of love, I gladly will obey

I then shall live as one who's learned compassion
I've been so loved I'll risk loving, too
I know how fear builds walls instead of bridges
I'll dare to see another's point of view
And when relationships demand commitment
Then I'll be there to care and follow through

Your Kingdom come around and through and in me
Your Power and Glory, let them shine through me
Your Hallowed Name, oh may I bear with honor
And may Your living Kingdom come in me
The Bread of Life, oh may I share with others
And may You feed a hungry world through me

This page was made from a cigarette ad that said "this changes everything". I gessoed and sprayed it awhile back with all the other journal pages I started. While looking for a page for today, these words jumped out at me. This did indeed change everything. Have a blessed Good Friday and a glorious Resurrection Sunday ~ Sherry



Vision

This morning I was looking thru my old poetry to find something to write on a current collage when the vision of my life just crystallized perfectly AGAIN in my head. 

As with so many of you, it is my dream and my ambition to be a full time artist.  But is it what God wants for me?  Did He open my eyes this morning or was I just wishing?  To pursue the dream seems so very selfish (after all, this isn't as noble as MLK's dream!) yet I know I'm better to people when I'm following this path.

Here's what the above journal page says:

I saw again the vision

Of how my life should be

Of how the art flowed from me onto paper, canvas

Of words and paper

Of timeless, no, time-free immersion in my art

Of a life spent as I've spent only moments until now

Of being me all the time, unencumbered by financial constraints & concerns

Of me loving & living my best

Of being a temporary vessel allowing art & words

             to flow thru me

hmmmm, maybe I'll go write that on this art piece

Gratitude

Thirteen years ago, I read a book about getting what you wanted out of life thru the use of all sorts of visualization techniques in all sorts of journals.  At the time I was working full time with two kids under 15 so I decided that if I did everything she suggested I wouldn't have time to pee let alone become a highly respected artist.  But I did take one idea away from the book - keeping a gratitude journal.

And that gratitude journal changed my life.  It sounds a little melodramatic, but it's true.  It changed my relationships with my family because I was focusing on all the good instead of the day-to-day - and cuz I was no longer complaining about my job in every conversation.  And it changed my relationship with God because I realized if I was thankful, I must have someone to thank. 

I made up pretty little journals and gave them to friends.  I gave simple little books to everyone in my family and to everyone in my women's group from church.  I don't know if anyone ever used them or if using them changed their lives.  I just know how important it was to me.

After reading a friend's blog this morning about things she's thankful for, I wondered where my gratitude journal was.  It was right in front of me but the fact that I wondered let me know that it had been far too long since I'd written in it.  Sure enough, two years.

Life is hard and times are tough for most of us much of the time yet I still have so much to be thankful for.  It's human nature to talk negatively more than positively as anyone who deals with the public can tell you - or anyone who's turned on the TV prior to the elections. And I'm no different - when I don't spend enough time reflecting on the good, I lack a certain graciousness in my speech and actions. 

So it's definitely time to write about all I'm grateful for:

my husband

my kids

my parents

my home

good friends

time to do my art

steady contract work the last two years

getting almost out of debt

the blogosphere

etc, etc, etc.....................

(the picture of my family is an oldie - it's hard to get everyone together at the same time these days)

The Dream

“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.’

...I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, ‘My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.’

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

…When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, ‘Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!’”

Martin Luther King Jr.

  August 28, 1963

Click here to read the entire speech.

Patience

Patience.
If you know me, you know that I don't really have lots of this.
But, hey, that's an improvement - when I was younger I had none!

But that's not the real point of this post. (Well, after reading the end of what I wrote, maybe it is.) It really has to do with this particular piece of art and selling art in general.

I'll start with the selling art part first: I make art because I NEED to - I've written about that before. But I also intend to sell most of my art. Some pieces sell right away like the two I just sold. But others end up hanging on the walls of my house for quite awhile waiting for a new home. I don't mind looking at them one bit - well, if I do, I pull them down and add them to the pile of substrates in my garage - but I want to be able to spend all my time "arting" and selling is what's gonna get me to that point. Lots of selling.

So this piece that I call PICKET FENCE is hanging in our bedroom. And I've been looking at it. Look how patiently that cat is waiting for that bird. Cats are like that - they take their time, wait patiently and then quickly seize an opportunity. Of course, they don't have to go to work every day - I mean NOBODY could consider napping and preening WORK!!

Anyway, I realized this morning that I have given this piece the wrong name. It should be called PATIENCE - not just cuz of the subject matter but because it hasn't sold for 4 years.

But not just that. Because it hasn't sold so that it can hang in our bedroom and remind me:

WAIT.
WAIT PATIENTLY.
WATCH CAREFULLY.
BE READY TO SEIZE THE OPPORTUNITIES.

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare, and not for calamity, to give you a future and a hope" Jeremiah 29:11

I already know His ultimate plan, my final destination. Until then, the journey really is the important part. So I'm waiting. And while I wait, I create. While I wait and create, I learn.

And hopefully, while I wait, create and learn, I'll also be growing. As an artist. But more importantly, as the person He wants me to be. I hope. Guess I'll have to wait & see (hehe)~ Sherry

Merry Christmas 2009 & Happy 2010

I've unpacked enough in my new studio that I can see some actual creative time coming in the future. We took time to celebrate our 14th anniversary. All my shopping is done except the potatos for Christmas day. And the only line I have to stand in today is at the post office.

So I thought I would take this time to wish y'all a

Merry Christmas
and a
Peaceful & Prosperous New Year

I know 2009 has been difficult for so many. But I KNOW that I have been blessed. Even those of us in the USA that are hurting are better off than most of the rest of the world. So let's take this time to give to others who are struggling - give our time, our prayers, our small change if that's all we have - give food to the hungry - give hospitality to the lonely. Most importantly, share the most important gift of all, the ORIGINAL Christmas gift, that a baby was born in order to restore us to God.

I hope and pray that 2010 will be better - less war, more peace - less unemployment, more security - less selfishness, more sharing - and that we will all have what we NEED plus some to give away ~ Sherry