by admin | Jun 3, 2016 | Stories
Isn’t it true that we often struggle and strive to justify our actions, when all along we’ve chosen to do the wrong thing in the first place?
My friend Christie uses this expression and it always rings so true to me – so much that I had to create this print. It reminds me about my motives for doing anything, thinking a particular way, making choices. What I choose has impact on so many other people, so I’m not choosing only for myself.
Breaking Bad is Biblical in its story structure, even Shakespearean, which is why I love this TV show so much. I can watch it over and over. The choice one man makes starts out with the motive to leave his family financially sound after his impending death from cancer. (Spoiler Alert – but you’ve had enough time!) Then it becomes a march toward the death of so many, along with his marriage, his family relationships, his friendships, his career, his identity, until he has left a pile of corpses strew about the bleak New Mexico landscape. A man makes a choice to do the wrong thing and justifies the “rightness” of it until almost everyone in the story is dead including himself. What a cautionary tale!
I don’t always make the right choices because I’m human and come with ego, neediness and all kinds of ugly attributes. I need the kind and merciful work of a Savior to fix me. For Jesus, I’m deeply grateful. I still don’t always make the right choices. When I don’t, I have some place to go and someone to go to who will show me how to make better choices the next time.
Meanwhile, this statement should be in front of my face at all times. If you’d like a copy, please visit my store at Society6.
by admin | Jun 3, 2016 | Stories
The principle of giving and receiving is a simple one and it comes from Jesus: “Give and it will be given to you” – Luke 6:38. He made it plain that in what ever measure we give, that same measure it will be returned to us, or come back. If we are generous we will receive generosity in return.
How do we measure our generosity? The verse goes on to describe that a good measure is “pressed down, shaken together or running over.”
When I bake something using brown sugar, I have to press it down firmly into the cup because there are air bubbles between the granules by the nature of its composition. White sugar doesn’t have the resistance that brown sugar does. Brown sugar must be pressed firmly into the cup as the correct measure of sweetness for the recipe.
To me that describes a kind of generosity that doesn’t skimp on flavor or sweetness. I know that if I’ve measured the brown sugar correctly, the recipe will have robust flavor as expected. If I’m stingy with the brown sugar, I’ll be disappointed with the result.
Giving generously has practicality. I will get back what I give so why not give freely and with anticipation? My immediate return is a heart filled with joy at the giving. It’s fun to purchase just the perfect gift for someone you love, wrap it up in a special way and present it with the hope that they will really love what you’ve given them. It’s exciting to watch their face as the gift is revealed.
That’s how God gives to us, with joy and excitement at anticipating how we will receive it.
Here’s a new print to express the joy of giving, available from my store on this site, or as various other products from my stores on Society6 and Fine Art America.
by admin | Jun 3, 2016 | Stories
Cats crack me up. They seem to think they’re panthers and stalking prey is their task. Forget that they have their own special bowl with their name on it. You can’t take the natural behavior out of any animal.
And this leads me to ask, do animals play? This is baby rabbit season and I have enjoyed the little bunnies literally chasing each other around my yard. They seem to be enjoying their “play.”
I began to start drawing some animals for a design brief I’m working on and took the idea of animals playing to create the above print, textile and wallpaper design. Just a simple idea or observation can morph into something useful and beautiful.
From a few of my design colleagues:
“I adore this pattern. Wallpaper for my daughter’s room, please!” – Natalie Couto
“It’s got the feel of historical textile design but you’ve made it bang up to date with the colors and the illustrative characters. The cats look so cheeky; If I were the bird I’d watch out.” – Rachael Parker
“Such a stunning design!” – Rachael Taylor
It’s nice to know you’ve created something people like and isn’t that the goal we designers have for all our work? Hope you enjoy it too.
This design is available as a print and other products you might like at my store on Society6 and also Fine Art America.
by admin | May 20, 2016 | Stories
Living with other humans teaches us to overlook and forgive offenses. I live with a feathered “child.” Seriously, a cockatoo has the brains of a three year old human child. Like any toddler, they are messy and selfish. They are endlessly affectionate and throwing a tantrum the next.
Angel believes, apparently, that my “spotless” floor is a place to toss stuff she’s no longer interested in. In her mind she lives in a cockatoo forest high in a Eucalyptus tree. She drops anything she doesn’t want so it lands on the forest floor. She would argue she has no hands and no place to store what she doesn’t want so dropping it seems logical to her. I could clean up the floor around her eight times a day and it would still need more cleaning after that. That’s the downside of living with a bird.
The upside is she’s smart, funny, affectionate and a thing of rare beauty. When you look at your own child, maybe a toddler or even a teenager, don’t you see their upside more than their flaws? Living with a bird in my house is not ideal but it teaches me to be patient, especially with those who are totally unaware of their own shortcomings. Angel has no idea that I’m overlooking her offenses moment by moment.
As far as she’s concerned she’s just being the delightful creature God made her to be. I envy the life of a cockatoo. She has no bills to pay, is always fed, her area cleaned up by the “maid” and she gets a massage whenever she comes to me for affirmation that she is loved. I wonder if that’s how God sees me.
“Cockatoo Envy” is a repeat pattern, even though I’ve shown just a closeup. It’s meant to work as a stand alone print, or as wallpaper, a duvet cover, shower curtain, stationary, gift wrap, a serving tray, or . . . can you think of something else? Let me know what you’d like to see it on or if you would like your very own print, by leaving me a message below. Hope you enjoy it.
