Finding Art Ministry - Norman Rockwell

While continuing my journey towards art ministry, I was drawn towards representations of Thanksgiving.  Historically this autumn harvest feast was celebrated to signify religious freedom.  Over centuries this holiday has lost some of it's religious intent and was replaced by a focus on family and home. During this time of the year many of us look back at all we have to be thankful for.  I feel absolutely blessed to have my two girls and loving husband and am extremely thankful for that.  My goals for my children is to teach them truly what it means to be thankful for what they have. 

During my research, I came across a quote that intrigued me:

"The pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts.  No Americans have been more impoverished than these who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving."  - H.U. Westermayer

What a powerful message!  Those early Americans, possibly your ancestors, had none of our modern conveniences.  They buried more of their own than we can even imagine.  Yet, they still were grateful to God for providing food, shelter and the ability to worship the way they wanted.  Today a lot of us might consider these to be very simple basic needs and often times take them for granted. Reading this quote really had the wheels in my mind turning.  Too many of us (I will admit, myself included) have become focused on being the best and having the best. I really started to think about this and realized that when your time comes to take your place in Heaven - it will not matter one bit that you owned a Louis Vuitton or drove a BMW.  It's crazy to think how materialistic we have actually become.

Now - while these thoughts were going through my head, I was still searching for my Thanksgiving art ministry reference.  An image of a Norman Rockwell painting came to mind and turned out to be perfect!
Norman Rockwell is such an iconic artist who simply painted what he saw.  He enjoyed showing the America that he knew and observed.  Most of us are familiar with his Saturday Evening Post covers.  I love that the majority of his art showcases "down home" America and ordinary people in everyday life.  His paintings depict such a vivid narrative one almost feels as if they are a part of the scene. 

I am completely encouraged by his work and am inspired to take my first step in art ministry.  My plan is to create some paintings that display my interpretation of God's glory and donate them to local shelters and hospitals.  I feel this will be my way to share God's love to those less fortunate. 

Please enjoy the following Norman Rockwell paintings which show his interpretation of Thanksgiving.

    Enjoy your day!

My Thrifty Thursday Meal!

Recently I decided that I really need to budget and adhere to it.  My husband and I have been married for 9 years and I think I only actually stuck to a budget during our first year. As time went on and we steadily increased our income, my budgeting went out the window!

        With two small children and the economy in it's current state, I am 100% dedicated to get back on a budget and live a bit more frugal than we have  :)

Meal planning was the first step I took on this journey. Thursdays have been dubbed my Thrifty Thursdays.  Today I made a simple, yet inexpensive, chicken dinner that I like to call Garlic Chicken Noodles. 
       5 ingredients are the only requirement:

Chicken ( I use fryer chicken strips )
Egg Noodles
Olive Oil
Garlic Powder
Grated Parmesian Cheese

Boil the chicken and egg noodles in separate pots.  Drain the egg noodles.  Cut chicken into small pieces and add to the drained egg noodles.  Mix in olive oil, garlic powder and parmesian cheese to your liking.  Voila!  Very simple, inexpensive and very yummy thrify dinner. I usually add some bread and butter and a side of veggies.

Enjoy your day!

Crafting Time - Doll Tutu's

It's that time of year again - craft show time!!  Dilemma - I am having some serious crafty / artist block right now.  On top of that, I can't seem to find any extra time to work on anything!

The craft show is next weekend, November 12 and 13.  To date, I only have 7 doll tutu's, 5 child size tutu's and a handful of doll outfits and embroidered washcloths left over from last year.  AAAHHHH! What to do, what to do?!  My goal for this year was to create princess costumes for the dolls, tutu's for both children and dolls, and some quilts.  Needless to say I did not quite meet this goal!


So - for the next week I am going to set small goals and try to accomplish as much for the craft show that I can.  Tonight and for most of the day tomorrow I am going to make as many doll tutu's that I can ( or until I run out of material! )  These are actually quite simple, so I am hoping to make a good number of these.

I started by tying elastic around the doll's waist.  The first tutu that I made came out very full, so I decided to use slip knots on the rest of the tutu's. This resulted in using less tulle and the skirt's were not as full as my original - but they still look adorable!  I plan on embellishing the tutu's with some ribbon and small flowers. Now I just hope they sell at the craft show!  If not, they will be the first items on my Etsy page.   :)

Happy crafting and enjoy the day!

Elmo Birthday Outfit

Time is going so fast!  I can't believe my little Caitlyn is almost one.  *Tear!* 


We decided to do an Elmo themed birthday party for her since she absolutely loves Elmo and Sesame Street.  Of course - I had to make her the perfect outfit to go with this theme.  Since I take every opportunity to make my girls look as girly as possible, I made her a birthday tutu.  I made this tutu the same way I made her black tutu a few months back for Mother's Day.  This time, I alternated red and yellow tulle, then added a few strands of blue tulle and some ribbon.  I'm very happy with the way it turned out, it is so happy and cheerful looking - which mirrors her little personality perfectly!


For her shirt, I thought I would experiment with making a felt applique of Elmo and the number one.  I am very much a procrastinator, so I left myself very little time to get this part done.  I was rushing to make it the morning of her pictures!  I bought various colors of felt and pieced together Elmo's face.  Had I spent more time on it, I know I could have captured the image of Elmo better.  However, considering I threw it together in less than fifteen minutes I was ok with it!!  I also threw together a simple four loop bow on an alligator clip.   :)

Hoo Are You?!

Here are this week's questions!

1. What are your favorite 3 things about fall?

2. Are you a football fan and if so who is your favorite team?

3. What is your favorite fall scent?

4. So you have seasonal allergies?

5. Have you started Christmas shopping yet?

My answers!
1.  My absolute favorite things about fall are the changing of the leaves, being outside in the cool crisp air with only a sweater and decorating the house for fall and Halloween!
2.  I am not much of a football fan, but I do watch it with my husband.  Since my family is from Michigan, my favorite college team is U of M - my husband is an Ohio State fan, lol! 
3. My favorite fall scent is pumpkin pie - yum!
4.  I do have seasonal allergies, I can feel them coming on now  :(
5.  I have not started Christmas shopping.  I have not even gone birthday shopping, and my baby turns one is just a few weeks!  I will probably start Christmas shopping in early November.


Come play along at Night Owl Crafting!!

Finding Art Ministry - Vincent Van Gogh

As time goes by and I'm evolving in my blogging, I find myself drawn to art ministry.  My husband and I recently started attending a new church that we are incredibly comfortable with and we are excited to be taking this journey together.  Looking at the wonderful programs available at church, I began to wonder if there were any type of art ministries, and if so, how to get one started.  Being extremely new to this, I wasn't sure where to start.  I love to do research, so I decided my first step was to see if any historical artists were involved in a form of art ministry.


To my surprise, I discovered that Vincent Van Gogh had a strong desire to enter the ministry.  Vincent Van Gogh had a tortured soul and was described to have been sad, yet cheerful.  He often turned to scripture and secretly wanted to be a clergyman like his father.  At one point in his career, Van Gogh became a preacher's assistant and was exposed to the extreme poverty of the parishioners.  This exposure inspired him to live in destitute as well. His plan was to study theology and he spent much of his time translating biblical passages into English, French and German.  He was able to fulfill this plan for a short time and attended University Theology for fifteen months. Unfortunately he failed the courses and made the choice to return to poverty.


Van Gogh made a move to Belgium to live among the mining community.  He taught them the Bible and, at his own expense, cared for them. He would also frequently sleep on the floor and give his bed to a poor person.  Eventually he became a preacher in this community.  What I find interesting and unfortunate is that the church forced his resignation because of his acts of charity.  I can't even imagine how dejected this made him feel.


In a letter to his brother, Van Gogh said:
" Even in that deep misery, I felt my energy revive, and I said to myself, in spite of everything I shall rise again: I will take up my pencil, which I had forsaken in my discouragement,and I will go on with my drawing.  From that moment, everything has seemed transformed for me." 
He is also known to have said:
" But I always think the best way to know God is to love many things."


Art then became his way of religious expression.  Instead of the usual religious paintings of Mary, Jesus and churches - Van Gogh painted what he saw in front of him to be symbolic of religion.  He frequently painted sowers in a field, impoverished people sharing food and beautiful landscapes to showcase God's grace.  As an art major, I took numerous art history and art appreciation courses.  I pride myself on the ability to retain a large amount of knowledge - and I do not recall ever learning this portion of Van Gogh's history in any of my classes.  How interesting that as art major's we focused strictly on the work of the artist and none of the background history that clearly held significant importance to what the artist chose to represent.


As a painter, I have always found myself drawn to painting landscapes.  I absolutely love to paint the sky and trees - as they are forever changing in color and appearance. Below are some of my favorite works by Van Gogh; the paintings say so much about the beauty that surrounds us daily.


   Almond Branches in Bloom


 Wheatfield Under a Cloudy Sky

The Sower

Enjoy the day! 

Whoo's Got A Cute Room?!

Finally I have been able to work on my daughter's owl inspired bedroom!!  This room has been 3 years in the making - and she is only four years old!  When my daughter was about 1 1/2, I came across an adorable bedroom set with owls, birds and trees from Pottery Barn Kids and I knew I wanted to do Madailein's "big girl room" in that theme.  Once we moved into our new house and started to set her room up, Target happened to come out with a owl bedroom set as well. So, I combined pieces from both Target and PB Kids to come up with the perfect room for her. 

Since time is not something I have a lot of, I decided to use some of the wall decals that Target had to coordinate with the theme.  I always knew that I wanted to paint some trees on her wall and do a monogram above her headboard.  This summer I finally was able to put some time aside to get her room painted the way I envisioned.  I have to say, that both of my girl's rooms are my favorite rooms in the house!  I could spend all my time there.  There's still some details I want to do in Madailein's room, but at least it's about done!  I would like to paint at least one more tree on the other side of her bed and maybe one more on the opposite wall - but all in all, I am soo happy with the way her room turned out!