Art Is A Friend

I did this piece this morning. I'm really having to remind myself to spend more time down than up, because once I go one second across the line, the payback and recovery takes 10 times longer. No, that is not an exaggeration, as my family can attest. But it's hard to just lie there and one can play just so many computer games, and one can't think clearly and aches so badly, it's hard to do anything else. This was made as a good reminder to me!

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Mixed media with liquid watercolor, oil pastels, alcohol inks and a paint pen. A little rubber stamping is thrown in for detail! Another journal page.

It's so cool and pleasant here! We had a cool front go through, and the temperatures are dry enough and cool enough to have the windows open and I'm loving having the window open on the second of June! Never would have happened when we lived in Charleston!

 Come see my latest postcards I've received on Postcards Buffet!

Scrap Postcard and a Story: Love Poem

I have been trying, by spending increments of time, to go through all the stuff I have stashed in my studio. A lot of it was moved in bulk from the room on the second floor where my studio used to be, and then more was dumped on top as I continued to clear through that room slowly. Also, I have a habit of tossing things aside as I go through items while I am creating my art. Then when I have to stop, my energy is so low I walk off and leave it strewn all over my art table, and other flat surfaces. My desire is that I would develop better habits, and that means taking the time to put things back. And that means, sometimes I have to stop before I want to, so I can clean up!

So I am finding small treasures I forgot I had, and pieces of art that didn't work for whatever reason at the time, and were put aside till I had an "aha!" moment to finish them. One such piece was this postcard:

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I had been experimenting with transferring images to art and this one did not work as I had hoped. So it was laid aside, and, subsequently buried. When I came across it, I immediately had some ideas to finish it and this is what came out:

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I used scraps I had saved from other art creations, used a little acrylic paint, paper tape, Prima fabric flowers, brads and metal letters. It also includes pastel oil crayons and Stabilo pencil. Seems like I always forget to sign the pieces before I photograph them!

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LOVE POEM

46th in the Tuesday Story Series

This is not a story per se, so I will say that right up front. I have had a difficult week with sleep issues and also a very unpleasant reminder that this illness is not easily understood by others. As I reminded myself that my value is not based on how people view me, but in the love Christ showers on me, I also thought about a gift my husband gave me a two weeks ago on Valentine's Day.

My husband is a hard working man, diplomatic and fair by nature, and highly intelligent. He works hard in his field of environmental engineering issues and one reason he is so good at what he does is because of his linear mindset. He can shut out noises, distractions, and focus intently on his work. He has had several papers published in his field and I can admire them, but I cannot understand the content, because I am not an engineer. My mindset is global, I am easily distracted, and this illness makes it easier for me to be overwhelmed. So, we are very different, yet as the pastor said who married us many years ago, we "fill in the gaps" for each other. He is my best friend, and has been a constant companion in an illness that affects both of us. John is not given to "Hollywood Romance", rather his love language is to serve others. I love ordinary romance and so we try to balance it out. This year for Valentine's, he did a most romantic thing for me - he wrote a wonderful poem. I want to share it with my readers (with his permission).

THE WIFE I LOVE

To deepen mystery;

To explain the unexplainable;

To find harmony in the unattainable:

This is the wife I love!

To take the pedestrian object;

The many random papers crimpled;

To not overlook the small or simple:

This is the wife I love!

The unattached string of thread

Is woven into tapestry;

So that abstract becomes reality:

This is the wife I love!

A life of art and balance,

Of complexity spun in serenity,

Understood only in its purity:

This is the wife I love!

To her God she sews, paints,

Draws, sub-creates,

With prayer: "May I

Achieve more than I am able",

To be presented before the 

World's table:

This is the wife I love!

My love for you deepens with each passing year.

John    2/14/12

My art fascinates him, because it is done so differently from how he paints (yes, he paints - we have several of his paintings in our house). It means the world to me that he appreciates what I do, even though he doesn't understand the process. And that is what is so wonderful about being in love, appreciating and applauding what the other does, rather than expecting and demanding sameness. What a wonderful husband I have!

Come see my latest postcards I've received on Postcards Buffet!

Tag Tuesday - Recycle the Trash; and a Story: Small Things

Today we raided the wastebaskets to make some art out of what was thrown away.

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For details on how I made this, or to join in on the challenge, please go to 

Blog Challenge Garden. 

The Small Things
33rd in the Tuesday Story Series

During the early months as I struggled with the chronic illness of ME/CFS, one of the issues before me was how much my life was being reduced, as I saw it. I was losing the ability to participate in life as I had up until that time. It was a difficult struggle for me, because I had no control over the changes which were taking place and I mourned what  parts of my life I had lost. But God does not take away and leave you empty, No, He replaces with plans of His own for your life and that was a lesson I learned slowly over many month's time. I would not be an artist today, I do not think, because I never gave it any time or thought. My relationship with Christ has deepened because I had time to read and reflect. I felt free to pour out my sorrow, as David did in the words of the Psalms and God heard me, and then began to show me, slowly, His small things, His treasures for my life.

I wrote this poem after studying Zechariah 4:10 and the verse that tells us not to despise the day of small things. I did not realize it then, but God was teaching me, and starting from the inside out, in a sense remaking me, as He continues to do. Now I see the small things as gifts, and the days I am involved with my illness, bring me deep into the journey of change. So, I have learned that small can be good and satisfying.

Zechariah 4:10

Define small, Could it be
Perhaps insignificant, or useless,

Something easily overlooked, or looked down upon.
Yet if judging a disease, it is the small that
Is the biggest danger.


Or is it the block, the stone,
Placed one upon another deliberately,
And requiring time as the engineer.
The small proceeds to greatness that will
Be remarked upon as large.


Perhaps it is the slivers of life,
A bird song, a floating cloud
A bud huddled amongst the leaves.
There the small becomes the priceless
Worth more than grasping dreams.


In a whisper, small itself, yet louder
Than the clamor of frustration and mortality,
I heard “despise not the day of small things”.
Small things take root from the heart of God
And will transform beyond imagination.

I did not want to be small
Or spend my days in hidden things.
Reduced to something I interpreted
As shrunkenness, of no value, empty.
I struggled against the invisible prison.

But my days are not mine,
Nor is the sum of them my understanding.
I am small in the Hand of God, this promise,
This transformation, hidden from my eyes
But leading to an immense eternity.

© Rebecca Cook 2009
(written as I struggle with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome)

May your Tuesday be blessed!

Theme Thursday - Words, an ATC

Still feeling rather blah today, as I have all week and not really sure why exactly. Could it be because I am waiting for a parcel of supplies I ordered to come in before I can work on my next art lesson? Perhaps it's because my husband had surgery on Friday and it's been a long week? (thankfully, he is slowly healing!) Or maybe because of the ongoing stress we are dealing with from another source. Whatever it is, and it could very well be a combination of the above things, I am determined to at least create something and it doesn't have to be spectacular, just something from me. So, I'm thankful for Theme Thursday today, it gives me a reason to do putter about with art.

 The theme today on Theme Thursday is "words". My creation is again on the simple side (for me) as was the one on Tuesday but I am just happy to be doing something!

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This is an ATC with a line of poetry, Sweet calm days in golden haze, Melt down the amber sky from John Greenleaf Whittier's My Psalm 39. I think those are just beautiful words! The number two is a chipboard piece, distressing inks were used as was a Spica pen and Tim Holtz tape at the corner.

Also today I caught up on sending out postcards on Postcrossing. I sent to Canada, Great Britain, Taiwan, Ukraine, Spain, Belarus and the US. I have received some really nice cards recently from Italy, France, Russia, Lithuania, Finland and Ireland. I have quite a collection now (but still very small compared to some folks!) and really enjoy this small way to spread good feelings across the world. It's always a fun day when I get postcards!