My Cat's Got Knees

The strange folks at rathergood have a new, kid-friendly creation. Malachy loves it! Click on the picture to watch.

Willow Creek Community Church Proverbs

I've been trying to make heads or tails of my papers lately and tonight I found something funny from the Willow Creek Monthly, Feb. 1998. It's called Willow Creek Proverbs.

There are six things that vex the preacher; yea seven that are an abomination to him: A screaming child, a ringing cell phone, men that line up for hugs, expensive microphones that fail to work, feet that flee during closing prayer, watches that beep on every hour, and the mother who nurses in the front row.
-Scott and Laurie Pederson

Few are the ways, but many are the words Willow Creek uses to explain that visitors don't have to clean out their wallets during the offering.
-Leslie Devine

Mightier is he who finds a legitimate first-row parking space than he who sneaks into single-parent parking without a permit.
-Paul Froehlich

Trust in the traffic team completely and do not attempt to go your own way. Obey their instructions and they will make your paths straight.
-Nils Peterson

Here are a couple that are a little dated, but still cute.

The waiting place of the righteous is a tree in the main lobby, for he who invites seeking friends is wise.
-Bruce Goehmann

Do not look with disdain on those with tattoos and many piercings, for they are the Axis on which the future of the church will turn.
-Tom Frost

Wasn't the Monthly great? Remember Mr. Newsletter person? And the comics? Those were the days. Heck, I've got nothing to do, I'll scan a couple of the comics for you. The first one is from December '95 and the second one is from May '96.

sketches

Here's some of my self assigned "homework" from Drawing People.





Before I get any comments (Steph) I want to remind you all that I don't get to pick the outfits! Very Zapp-esque.





I also did a couple of kitty sketches just for fun. It hasn't been much of a "parade of cats" here lately.

Good Friday Painting

Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, "Sit here while I go over there and pray." He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me."



So this is the painting I submitted for the Good Friday exhibit. As usual, I had trouble getting a good photo. It's actually bluer than this with no patches of tan or beige anywhere (I don't know how it looks on your monitor, but mine is showing it with some funny colored patches.) It's acrylic on a 16x20 canvas.

Weird

It's weird, I was expecting to really enjoy this time off, but it's been kind of sad. I've been working on my Gethsemene Jesus painting for the Good Friday exhibit and I keep wondering what it must have been like to know that the next day you were going to be tortured to death in front of your own mother. Not a happy thought. And there is no loud baby running around the house to distract me. Well, I think the painting is finally done so tomorrow I'll hang out with mom and maybe start painting the bathroom walls. Talk to y'all later.

Just checking in

Has March been a crazy month for anybody else? Whew-y! I'm anticipating a nice relaxing weekend though, because Steph, Mark and Malachy are headed to Iowa to see the Stangers. I can't wait! Talk to you all then, Kim

Productive Day

I got a lot done today. I did the underpaintings for three little paintings Steph asked me to do for Malachy's room (they're based on the artwork of Simon Hart.)
































I did a couple of warm up sketches for another painting that Steph has asked me to do for her bedroom based on a painting by Nydia Lazano.
























And I did the underpainting for a Jesus portrait for the Good Friday show.

This kind of tonal underpainting is new for me but I've been watching Helen Van Wyk videos and she uses them so I thought I'd give it a crack. I found I like it a lot better than the charcoal drawings I was doing before and I don't have to worry about applying a fixative because you do the underpainting in acrylic.

Bronchospasms!!!

I had a welcome addition to my life on St. Patty's day. No, not the kitty, the inhaler! Beautiful as a daffodil! Here's how I scored it - I went into the ER and informed the nurse that I thought my massive thyroid had finally burst it's borders and was crushing my trachea... a few tests and six hours later my nurse informed me that I was having a bronchospasm and sent me home with an inhaler.

The overwhelming feeling of the last couple days is RELIEF. I feel thirty lbs lighter and ten years younger. My stamina has been amazing and at night I actually get some sleep. (Knock on wood.) Thank God for inhalers!

The ER ruled out an infection as the cause of the bronchospasm but didn't speculate as to what might be causing it. I've had breathing problems for as long as I've had fibromyalgia. I've had EKGs, chest x-rays, a pulmonary function test (AWFUL), and been tested for cat allergies - no answers. (I wish we'd tried the inhaler years ago, but back when this was going on I had hyperthyroidism and high blood pressure, which would have made albuterol a no-no.) I'm wondering if it is the FMS. FMS can cause muscle spasms just about anywhere.

Anyway, I just wanted to celebrate the good news with y'all!

Llama Drama Painting

I painted Piper's favorite victim for my still life this week in class. I used a palette knife to apply the fur, and a brush for some fine tuning. If I had it to do over again I would do a darker background and spend more time on the table top and face. I completed this one in about two hours. It measures 16x20. Those little specks on the surface are dirt from the ECC parking lot. Half way to my car I dropped the painting face down on the ground...oh well!
As you can see, I flattered the llama a little in my painting by not including that unseemly bald spot at the top of his left leg. That's where Piper knocked him into hot candle wax and I had to trim off the matted hair.

Tiley and "The Studio"

Tiley Frost, the head of Studio at the Creek (the visual arts ministry at Willow) is profiled this month in Celebrate! Chicago Christian Woman magazine.

In addition to being an amazing artist, entrepreneur and fledgling author, Tiley is the Director of Visual Arts Ministry for the Willow Creek Community Church of South Barrington. THE STUDIO at the creek is a group open to all visual artists from all media and skill levels.

Their mission statement is, “Visual Artists reflecting God’s love through our gifts.” “In each congregation there are unidentified visual artists occupying seats. Given the opportunity they would jump at the chance to be vessels through which God can bless all of us.”...

Last Spring at Willow Creek, THE STUDIO at the creek artists hosted an art exhibit for Good Friday and Easter. “For four days I watched in amazement as thousands of people were moved deeply by what they experienced. God reached out through paintings, sculptures, and photographs, touching lives. One woman, having been through the gallery could barely speak. After a long pause she simply exclaimed as tears welled in her eyes, ‘Thank you … thank you for doing this.’”

To read the whole article and see one of Tiley's beautiful paintings click on the orange link above.

The Happy Party!

Why aren't you watching the Situation with Tucker Carlson? Yesterday he had the Moscow Cat Circus on his show, today he discussed this interesting story: (reported here by Jennifer Harper of the Washington Times)

Who are the happiest people in America?

Conservative Republicans are among the most joyous, according to a survey released yesterday by the Pew Research Center for the Public and the Press, which found that 47 percent of respondents who were both conservative and Republican said they were "very happy."

The survey was specific. This isn't just ho-hum happy. This is emphatically happy.

The group was eclipsed only by well-heeled Republicans with more than $150,000 in annual incomes -- 52 percent were very happy -- and people who attend church at least once a week, with incomes of more than $50,000 a year. Half of them also said they had a happy mind-set.

...

The findings revealed that the Republican Party has an upbeat history: Republicans have been consistently happier than Democrats every year since the survey began in 1972, with up to a 17 percentage point lead. Republicans topped their rivals by 11 points even during the Carter and Clinton presidencies, according to Pew.

"The GOP happiness edge over Democrats has ebbed and flowed in a pattern that appears unrelated to which party is in political power," the survey said, noting "a significant partisan gap."

28 percent of liberal Democrats were in the "very happy" group; the figure was 31 percent among conservative or moderate Democrats and 45 percent among moderate or liberal Republicans.

Good feelings don't seem to hinge on money, either. Considering household income, "Republicans still have a significant edge: that is, poor Republicans are happier than poor Democrats; middle-income Republicans are happier than middle-income Democrats, and rich Republicans are happier than rich Democrats," the survey stated.

For example, 30 percent of Republicans who made less than $30,000 a year were very happy -- compared with 19 percent of Democrats in that income bracket. Among those with annual incomes of more than $75,000, the figures were 52 percent and 38 percent, respectively.

Sorry about the highlighting, once I started I didn't know when to stop!

Anyway, I thought this was fascinating! One thing I've noticed is that the Republicans I know have more faith in their fellow human beings than the Democrats I know. Republicans are less likely to interpret ambiguous behavior as malicious or deceitful than their counter-parts are. (I think my Democratic friends might call this naivete or wishful thinking.) Of course, this doesn't apply across the board, and the exceptions, when they occur (think Bill Clinton and Bill O'Reilly), tend to be conspicuous.

Promiseland Conference at Willow Creek

The second conference of the season kicks off tomorrow morning and I'll be there helping out. I've been told my job is to stand back stage with a flashlight so that the Out Loud kids don't trip. I guess my flashlight holding skills did not go unnoticed at the last conference.

Since I started volunteering in Promiseland last year I've been impressed over and over with the incredible energy, intelligence, fun and focus of this ministry. This will be my first Promiseland conference, but if it has even half the spirit of a typical weekend in Promiseland it's going to be amazing!
Then after that I'm rushing to ECC for my painting class! Busy day!