The Best Part About Turning 50 {...and it wasn't the ipad pro...}

In other news - I turned 50 last week! And The Preacher gave me an ipad pro!

The Reviews On My Book

The reviews on my first book The Women of Advent || A Gathering of Scattered Hearts, Past and Present are beginning to roll in.

Art for Art's Sake

Part of my fall "bucket list" is to make even more "art for the sake of art".

So yesterday, after many days of tending to quite literally crisis after crisis...

(see this link to donate to hurricane disaster relief for the nation of Haiti.  The Preacher, also known as my pastor-husband, is the president of Bethanie Missions of Haiti, and we can personally guarantee that every dollar goes directly to water filters, food, and the rebuilding homes for the people there.  He will be heading down in a few weeks, as a matter of fact.  If you know other ministries personally, please donate there.  But if you do not personally know a "boots on the ground" ministry in Haiti, we are, at Harvest Church, boots on the ground.)

...The Preacher and I escaped to our favorite spot.  We needed to talk, laugh, sketch, dream, and I needed to shoot around with my new toy...

A Short Excerpt From My New Book {"The Women of Advent"}

The Women of Advent - My New Book! {...join my launch team?}

I've written my first book.

 It will launch just before Thanksgiving.   I've been hard at work here...

Common Ground

You and I have something in common. Something important.

Whether you are religious, secular, agnostic, sanguine or choleric.  Whether you are an INFJ like me, or an EPBandJ like my daughter Sarah (inside joke).  Whether you drink Jack Daniel's or Diet Coke, you and me have a long history of the same thing.

An Art Exercise Video For You {...Words Are Their Own Art Form}

This is a simple but enlightening grown-up art activity I put together last week, based on an old coaching exercise of mine.  I adapted it to artists, and like all my coaching material, I did it myself first.  It was powerful for me.

This is an exercise to help you in identifying and affirming your own artistic style.

For about the past two years, my art techniques and approaches have been undergoing a slow but very perceptible change.

 I am finding the courage to be radically simple in my subject matter and palette. And make no mistake, in this mixed media world I know and love so well, it takes courage to, in the words of country singer Luke Bryan, "Strip It Down".