Tag Archives: Art

Beautiful Paintings

Today, over at  Lisa Jo’s,  the writing prompt is PAINT. 

Five minutes of uninterrupted writing.

No going back, no worrying about punctuation…..just letting the words flow.

Ready, set, go!

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Renoir, Rembrandt, Monet, and Van Gogh.

Famous artists, painters extraordinaire.

Hung in museums, shown in private collections.

Beautiful.

First grader, soft six year old hands painted flowers in the field.

Hung in the hallway, shown for all the family to see.

Beautiful.

A wife, mother, “closet” painter.

Flowers and fruit. Folk art.

Hung with a thumb tack on the wall in the school room.

Beautiful.

God who splashes color across the morning sky.

Blushing pinks, violet purples and wild indigo blues.

Pushing back the darkness of the night.

Beautiful.

Creativity, beauty, color.

Aesthetic.

Speaking to the heart without saying a word.

 

 

Wonder

The Gypsy Mama

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. And then absolutely, no ifs, ands or buts about it, you need to visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments. Seriously. That is, like, the rule. And the fun. And the heart of this community..

Oh and Ahem, if you would take pity and turn off comment verification, it would make leaving some love on your post that much easier for folks!

OK, are you ready? Please give us your best five minutes on:::

Wonder…

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On some days I wonder why I am here. In this place at this time. I think back over my life and wonder about the decisions I made, the choices I said yes to and those I turned down, I think about the people I’ve had come and go throughout my life.

I wonder about how everything has come together and I wonder about what the future might hold.

I go for walks and wonder at the world around me.

Why is the sky that shade of blue? Why do spiders have eight legs? How come cats have tongues like sand paper?

I wonder why a single day can hold such joy and such heartache? Such highs and lows?

Most of all I wonder why I am so blessed? I wonder why God chose me? For this?

And I am thankful…so very thankful.

amber sunrise

amber sunrise (Photo credit: harold.lloyd)

 

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How Deep, How Wide?

http://lisajobaker.com/

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. And then absolutely, no ifs, ands or buts about it, you need to visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments. Seriously. That is, like, the rule. And the fun. And the heart of this community..

Oh and Ahem, if you would take pity and turn off comment verification, it would make leaving some love on your post that much easier for folks!

OK, are you ready? Please give us your best five minutes on:::

Wide…

 

This week I had been measuring.  Getting a new cabinet, well not new, but new to me, cabinet from  a friend. I was checking to see if it would fit on one of the walls in our living room. How high is it? How wide is it? How deep is it?  Width is an important factor.

Isn’t it, always?

My niece stretched out her arms as wide as she could….. ” I love you this much”

The children’s song echoes in my mind….”Deep and wide, deep and wide….there’s a fountain flowing deep and wide.”

“Open up wide!”  I’d say to my infant son when I played food “games” with him. Stuff like here comes the choo-choo train or airplane or whatever else I could think of to get the food in his little mouth:)

Wide does matter.

How deep, how wide, is my love?

English: Twinkle Twinkle little star (English)...

 

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Good Bye

This 16 mm spring-wound Bolex "H16" ...

Want to play Five Minute Friday? It’s easy peasy!

@The Gypsy Mama

1. Write for 5 minutes flat on the prompt- no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. Meet & encourage someone who linked up before you.

OK, are you ready? Give us your best five minutes on:  Good Bye

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Okay, so the movie is kinda of corny….but, it is one of my favorites anyway.  I’m a sap when it comes to movies that pull the heart strings. Love ’em, that’s just how I roll.

One of my favorite quotes from the movie comes at the very end. The main character’s mother had died earlier that year…..

That’s what momma always says. She says that beginnings are scary, endings are usually sad, but it’s the middle that counts the most. Try to remember that when you find yourself at a new beginning. Just give hope a chance to float up. And it will…

True, huh? Endings usually are sad. Good byes often hurt….especially if they are good byes with no hope of a new hello.

The reason good bye hurts is because of love.

If we don’t love, than a good bye doesn’t have the same sting.

The same longing to not go.

The want for one more minute, one more day….

one more chance.

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Take Me Home–Windows Version

 

My family moved into our house (that we built, along with dozens of other men) in Ohio, two years ago this month. My husband and I had decided that our windows would have the grill work that snaps on and makes the windows look like they have small panes of glass. (I’m all about aesthetics, you know.) I stained all the grill work by hand, by myself, thank you very much. I did that and it sat in the attic…..until yesterday. You see the casings of all the windows are natural wood and did not match the dark wood in the house. Staining all the window casings would be a big job and I didn’t feel up to it. Until this week. I am grabbing the bull by the horns, so to speak. Maybe I should say I’m grabbing the brush by the handle. I think HGTV has inspired me. Or not. I just want to get this task completed….and I want the trims to match, so there you go. Yesterday I worked all afternoon staining the casings in the kitchen, then I washed the windows, wiped down the grills, and snapped them in (which is much more difficult than one would think, believe me…. I have a cut thumb to prove it). Instant beautification.

The white parts on the windows are not wood, so therefore cannot be stained. It’s the tracking part thing-a-ma-bobbers, in the windows. So, that is not my fault. Just sayin’. When looking through the kitchen window, one can see the corner posts of the front porch and my still empty flower bed…although, it has been tilled. The bird feeders are also visible.

I like my faux silk curtains. I got them for $7.99 a piece at Wal-mart. One can hardly go wrong with that price. Pretty. Pretty. They add some snazziness to the windows, and are beautiful when the light filters through them.

This is the small kitchen window facing the driveway. The bottles are from Snapple‘s raspberry tea. I washed them and filled them with colored glass pieces. When the sun hits them it almost looks like stained glass. Once again, I got the glass pieces at Wal-mart and already had the glass bottles. Prettiness on the cheap.

 

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It’s All Good

A set of small wind chimes

Image via Wikipedia

“God is great

God is good

Let us thank Him…”

Here I am on yet another gray and drizzly Monday. Spring of 2011 will go down as one of the wettest EVER. I am learning to become one with the rain. Even though it isn’t sunny and bright this morning, I can still give thanks. Thankfulness is a choice.

I choose to give thanks. God has blessed me in so many ways. He deserves all my thank you’s, because all good things come from Him. Without Him there is nothing.

*the sink full of weekend dishes (this means the family had food to eat)

*a dishwasher that needs emptied (this means I was busy having fun this weekend and didn’t have time for unloading the dishwasher)

*a pile of towels on the laundry room floor (we have plenty)

*being able to hear my wind chimes outside the kitchen window (the chimes play part of the song, Amazing Grace)

*a bowl full of oranges (just pretty)

*the smell of cinnamon (even if it is because we’ve sprinkled cinnamon around the window sills because supposedly ants don’t like cinnamon…and we are trying to stave off the migration)

*some good deals at local yard sales this past weekend (a collector Boyd’s bear, in excellent condition is pure gold)

*birthdays (mine is Tuesday and my son’s is Thursday….each time this week rolls around, I am so thankful. I remember what a wonderful “late” birthday present I got in 1995.)

*the year I turn 43

*times to celebrate

*a busy, but happy week ahead

*good news

*God’s amazing grace

*I am loved by the King

*He sees me…really sees me. I am known.

*family that I love

*starting a woman’s book club

*an opportunity

*summer around the corner

*it’s all good

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” James 1:17 NIV

Won’t you join us in thanksgiving?

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Juggling Is Not My Thing

Jongleur Spanien Circus Balls

Image via Wikipedia

Juggling, really is not my thing. I always drop the balls. I might try again, but most likely one ball will go shooting off in one direction and another will hit the floor. Sigh.

In the big scheme of things whether or not I can juggle really doesn’t matter. I’m not planning on joining a three ring circus anytime soon. (Although on really difficult days, I will admit, the thought has crossed my mind.)

How many times have I tried to juggle things in my life? Not balls, or fruit….. but, schedules, lists, quiet time, responsibilities, friends? How many times have I allowed certain things to crash to the ground because I realized that I can’t do it all?

Drum roll, please….I’m not perfect.

If you are anything like me, you aren’t perfect either. Isn’t it refreshing to be able to say that? Just to admit it? Embrace it? ……Big, deep breath.

There have been many times where I don’t get everything accomplished in a day.  There are things that I had planned, that didn’t get finished… Or even get started, for that matter. I feel overwhelmed. A failure. What is the matter with me? Why can’t I be super wife? Mom? Friend?

I read something recently that was a great reminder —I can’t do it all. I shouldn’t expect that I would be able to do everything. What a relief!  Life is far too fleeting to sweat the small stuff. Now, if I could just remember that on a daily basis.

On that note, here is my list for today:

* Life is short, whether we live an hour or one hundred years…in the scope of eternity, it’s all short. Enjoy it, for the time you have.

*Value each moment. Don’t rush. Slow down. Take it all in.

* Pay attention to the things that matter.

* Tell those you love that you love them. You need to say it, and more importantly, they need to hear it.

* Life is not an emergency, stop acting like it is.

* Give yourself a break. Perfection is not really any fun.

* Thank God for each day…no matter what kind of day you’re having. Each moment is a gift. Priceless…

* God is so good. It’s all by His grace. His sweet, amazing grace.

Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.    1 Peter 5:7 ESV

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Everyone Has A Story…

Charles Kuralt, Host from 1979–1994

Image via Wikipedia

My husband gave me the DVD set of the late Charles Kuralt, On The Road series. The series used to air on CBS Sunday. Mr. Kuralt and crew were in an RV, traversing the highways and bi-ways of America. He met people in the big cities and small towns of this country. His key phrase had him wondering what was “up around the bend”. Even though I was a child for most of his years on TV, and don’t really remember watching the series, I am intrigued by his travels, now, as an adult.

One day, I hope to “hit the road” for an extended period of time. Meet people. Write their stories. I long to see America in a way that isn’t shown on the nightly news. There is something to be said for taking time to go down the road less traveled, to sit and listen to stories that  might otherwise never be heard.

I think that is why I love blogging so much…and reading other people’s blogs. I get to meet people in a sense…get to know them. Just like a book can take me to a place I’ve never been…my blog friends show me their lives in parts of the country that I’ve never had opportunity to visit. Yet.

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