Stained Glass Paper Painting - huh?

("PLAY" as you visit) - True Colors/Phil Collins

King Solomon said there is nothing new under the sun - yet I keep trying to do my own thing. This week's brain-explosion involved water coloring sections of a painting to look like stained glass - with true dividers (fake leading) created from dimensional paint.

I better show you rather than tell you...

I decided that since this was a whole new adventure that I wanted to take I had better not get hung up on the design aspect and, therefore, by using art I already created (a recycled design kind of thing) - I would not get bogged down on that part - and could thusly (who talks like that - Frasier Crane?) focus on the technique or, in this case, the latest hair-brained scheme.

I took watercolor paper and drew my design onto it lightly - of course I should have measured and been more graphically centered and all that jazz, but I was racing myself to get the idea onto paper before I decided to do something completely different like make an altered doll out of a shoe and an old bone or something...

I next took dimensional paint (that wicked crafty stuff in a bottle that splatters, gets clogged, and at the worst possible moment "burps" and globs driblets where you don't want them; yes, that stuff) and went over my pencil marks. I hoped this would look like stained glass "leading" - kind of. What do you think?

I began to watercolor ... well - at first I grabbed some regular colored pencils that were mixed in with my watercolor pencils - ugh... then I got out my really nifty Holbein WC tubes and saved the day... As I pooled the water my hope was that the lighter areas would mimic light shining through the back of glass... maybe it worked a little?

Anyway - I'll hush now and let Phil sing... (True Colors) ... sing with me...

The final FINAL pictures will be from scans - all squared up nicely and will reflect the 'true colors' (wink) more accurately - I hope. The originals will be listed in my ETSY store soon and giclee reproductions will eventually follow.

~xo Katey

You with the sad eyes - don't be discouraged ! oh I realize it's hard to take courage in a world full of people - you can lose sight of it all and the darkness inside you can make you fell so small. But I see your true colors shining through. I see your true colors and that's why I love you, so don't be afraid to let them show - your true colors -- true colors are beautiful like a rainbow.

Show me a smile then - don't be unhappy. Can't remember when I last saw you laughing. If this world makes you crazy and you've taken all you can bear - you call me up because you know I'll be there. And I'll see your true colors shining through. I see your true colors and that's why I love you, so don't be afraid to let them show --

your true colors -- true colors are beautiful like a rainbow

(Cindy Lauper)

"Then Peter began to speak: "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right." (Acts 10:34-35) 

 

~ ~ ~ 

"I'm the typical"

Come on, can’t I dream for one day

There’s nothing that can’t be done

But how long should it take somebody

Before they can be someone?

~

‘Cause I know there’s got to be another level

Somewhere closer to the other side

And I’m feeling like it’s now or never

Can I break the spell of the typical

~

I’ve lived through my share of misfortune

And I’ve worked in the blazing sun

But how long should it take somebody

Before they can be someone

~

Cause I know there’s got to be another level

Somewhere closer to the other side

And I’m feeling like it’s now or never

Can I break the spell of the typical, the typical, the typical, uh huh

~

I'm the typical

I'm the typical

Can I break the spell of the typical

Because it’s dragging me down

I’d like to know about when

When does it all turn around

I'm just the typical

I'm just the typical

~MUTEMATH

My sweet friends - passers by - artists - precious ones...

~I have not uttered “why me?” throughout this entire too-many-funerals-many-years ride… not for the 12 days as I sat next to my Mom dying in the hospital - swatting away some of the death-mongering medical staff that deem the elderly spent and useless. I did not utter against God as Mom faced a wicked month in “rehab” (aka a nursing-home-dying-depot)… I didn’t argue that she was handed a mortal blow in the form of a great big engraving across her forehead that read “Metastasic Breast Cancer at age 84 / Doomed” … the “doomed” part was wholley the result of the cruelty of words; the way things are spoken carelessly; the lies that are thoughtlessly sputtered by so many fools.

~I came close to questioning the reactions from extended family members who didn’t get the big picture … and when I tried to get them to spend time with Mom (for their sakes not mine) I was met with my own anger and frustration...a tall hurdle for me. Even when I went through several months of my own head-spinning, breath-sucking cancer testing which resulted in a lumpectomy for my birthday last June - I fought hard to not allow the language of death or the lies so easily spoken by those so well-intended, but oh so ill-informed, to crush me. I separated myself from liars and fools. I have not found comfort in phrases like “why me” ~ not because I am strong or wise, but because it just does not matter. Did Job not say “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him” ?

~God has made His presence known in very real ways to me. He gave me literal messengers and very tangible messages. I am not a flamboyant woo-woo zombie surface-believer type; I am a Christian who is completely reliant on the mercy and grace of God - and He met me in very real ways throughout this very real war I have been plunged into.

~I have come to realize that making it through one monumental battle does not award me the respite of facing less, or better yet, NO more battles. In fact, they seem to get closer and uglier as I move ahead. I am intrigued that the enemy of my soul is frightened enough of my sure and eternal standing in Christ that he attempts to derail me again and again. Loser.

~Am I typical? I am. No trial or temptation or wicked circumstance or foolish voice or insensitive stranger or dark diagnosis has befallen me that is not common to all of us.

~Why then do the song lyrics capture my attention when I hear “Cause I know there’s got to be another level. Somewhere closer to the other side - And I’m feeling like it’s now or never - Can I break the spell of the typical” -- because it is all about how I react and what I do with these very typical, common complaints of life… no matter how many I face and how often. I am called to rise above the typical - to be more than I am right now and be a light in a dark world. “Come on, can’t I dream for one day - There’s nothing that can’t be done, but how long should it take somebody before they can be someone?”

~' I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me…' that’s it... however long it takes. period.

...Philippians 4:13

 

xoKatey

Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And, "If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?"So then, those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good. ~ 1 Peter 4:12-19 (NIV)

~

(The Message): verse 12 - Friends, when life gets really difficult, don't jump to the conclusion that God isn't on the job. Instead, be glad that you are in the very thick of what Christ experienced. This is a spiritual refining process, with glory just around the corner.

(Amplified): verse 12 - Beloved, do not be amazed and bewildered at the fiery ordeal which is taking place to test your quality, as though something strange (unusual and alien to you and your position) were befalling you.

~~

NEXT DAY POST SCRIPT:
Another side to this whole "breaking the spell of the typical" is my continued drive and restlessness to get myself out of this art-rut that captivates and holds me prisoner... where I create in spurts because that is all I am able to do. I have more in me than can get out and the result is more unproductivity than productivty (alot of good intentions left unfinished). It is "now or never" I think - or at least I want to attempt to think that. Life is going to keep happening (thank God, amen). I can look back and see why I haven't accomplished much, but I cannot use that to excuse anything. Life (and death, and accidents, and diseases, and good things too) will continue to come at full speed - right in my face. I am longing to capture all that I can while I can despite the speed of life - so that I can rise above mediocrity... typical ... usual ... average.

POST Post Script (after reading some of the responses here and on FB) I want to emphasize that
I didn't ask "why me" because I am strong or know how to handle difficult things - I am WEAK and FRAIL - and there were times when all I could utter was "Jesus" -- and it was in that weakness He came to me and held me together. In Romans 8:26-28 Paul speaks of the Holy Spirit groaning on our behalf ... I realize now (thank-you Pastor Alistair Begg) that when I had nothing left within myself Jesus was then fully there for me in my nothingness. "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will" ... amen