Petal by petal

Class Assignment- "My Journey from Darkness to Light

Collage -Using old magazines and a glue stick.

Our assignment; choose one color and create a collage depicting the transition of change in our personal life. I picked red. Using the one color theme, I created a progression of darker reds that moved from the center.... outward. I wanted to make a flower to represent the idea of a new beginning. Instead of using scissors, my paper was torn to give it an uneven edge.

God is the only one I know who can take the darkness of our life and transform it into something beautiful. It takes time to grow and heal, like a lovely rose that opens gracefully one petal at a time until it is fully boomed. May the fragrance of the "ONE who redeemed me from an eternity of darkness"......linger long after I've faded away.

Value the process

A workshop assignment, “Melting Colors” - sounded easy enough. It was one of our first paintings and my first time ever using acrylics. My paint was ready, sponges and Q-Tips in hand, when all the sudden a flood of negative thoughts crashed in on me; These colors aren’t blending the way I want. How are we suppose to paint if we can only use a sponge and a Q-Tip? I don't have any control! These thoughts were followed by...Auugh...her painting is so much better than mine. Am I doing it right? This looks horrible! Apparently ALL my “committee members” are alive and well and decided to pay me a visit right then and there! It was an eye-opening experience. What did I learn that evening? First, there sure is a lot of chatter going on in my head! It was hard for me to surrender to the process and relax. I am a “result oriented” not “process oriented” person. I wanted clear instructions, a sense of control, plenty of feedback and lots of affirmation. I also realized, if left unchecked- my chatty committee members are capable of completely sabotaging even a simple 30 minute art project! YIKES. Not a pretty sight. This beginner art lesson (and the others that were soon to follow) would teach me the value of going through “the process".

Class Assignment- "Melting Colors"

"Usually when we say we can't do something, what we mean is we won't do something unless we can guarantee that we'll do it perfectly. When we are willing to accept that anything worth doing, might be worth doing badly...our options widen! If you didn't have to do something perfectly....what would you try?"

Julia Cameron, The Complete Artist's way