Leanne Shawler, Artist

As I was working from home on Monday, I was able to get all the prep done for these jelly donuts (recipe by Deb Perelman of Smitten Kitchen ) and thus able to fry them first thing Tuesday morning to take into work for a Chanukah treat. There are two rises involved with this yeasted dough and I got a bit worried: the milk didn't froth with the yeast in it (not lukewarm enough?) and although after the first rise the dough was a bit puffy, it looked pretty sad and flat the next morning after the second overnight rise in the fridge. BTW, I did the "peskier" method where you prefill with jam before frying. Having never made these before, I had to do a taste test. (My hubby was dispatched to work with the one donut that "exploded" during frying.) Thankfully, they turned out pretty dang good (I think the lemon zest really made it) ... ... and off to work they went! Portrait #2 is underway for the 52 Portraits in 52 Weeks challenge. This time it is...

It's just the first week and it already has proved that one can complete a portrait in a week even if one works full-time and has to deal with family emergencies (we're okay). Monday night: image sketched Tuesday night: set up palette and first layers Wednesday night: choir Thursday night: well, we had to watch The Voice! (yes, more about those choices later) Friday night: one of my bosses got installed in his new job (where he is still my boss), an amazing evening Saturday: at hospital most of the day, home for an hour where I painted! then off to Christmas party Leaving Sunday to photograph and scan the finished portrait and get it online for y'all, as well as prep for week 2! For Week 2, I am still trying to decided between the redo of Frida Kahlo (which is on a board) or a whole new painting. I still have a lot of paint left from this painting in blues, reds, greens and purples, so I'm leaning toward the Frida Kahlo redo as it is more abs...

I didn't get started on the first week of my challenge to complete 52 Portraits in 52 Weeks until tonight, but here are a couple of pics. I decided to start with a self-portrait. There was a crazy looking one where I'm super-happy, but it wasn't my best angle, so I decided to use one where my hair looked fabulous instead. Before I began: Initial sketch: I'll show you the final result Sunday. Follow me on Instagram  @leanneshawler to see progress shots throughout the week. See the pinned "Featured" post  to learn more about the 52 Portraits in 52 Weeks challenge and how you can join in.

It's the last weekend before the 52 Portraits in 52 Weeks starts. I know what I'll be doing. How about you?

One: I don't need to draw a face to paint it. I can just dive right in, even with ink. Annie Hamman's class Close Up workshop gave me such confidence! (The class is still available as a self study) Two: I learned that while I love how long I can work with oils before the paint isn't moveable any more, what I don't love about it is the smell (even with using odorless mineral spirits) and the environmental impact. Open acrylics are supposed to be similar so I might give that a try... Madonna Oils, from Annie Hamman's Close Up Workshop class Three: Grief takes a chunk out of you, even when you're not consciously thinking about it. Dad died at the beginning of summer --and my mental acuity is just not there. Of course, I am thinking about making art a lot, because life is just too short not to do the things you love to do. I'm not even sure I am ready to monetize that, but I am moving towards it slowly... Four: My church has invited us to do a spiri...

I have been so inspired by Annie Hamman 's Close Up workshop (now available for self-study), that I have decided to pursue abstract-ish portraits for a year -- and rather than waiting for January 1st, I am going to start on December 11. That's right 52 Portraits in 52 Weeks . It almost sounds too easy (even with all the caveats below) and I wonder if I should really challenge myself and do 104, but because of the caveats below, I'm going to be realistic, if I happen to finish two in one week, that'll be the bonus for when I'm not able to complete one later in the year. Also, these guys won't be tiny. They will all be acrylic paintings on a substrate (translation: what you paint on) 8.5" x 11.5" or bigger. I will be using a Dylusions journal just because it lays so beautifully flat, but I will be also use canvas and canvas board because I want to keep playing with palette knife paintings and I don't think the paper will stand up well ...

So yes, I'm really shifting the focus here to sharing my art. I haven't deleted anything from the archives... so you can read everything all the way back to the first entry in 2010 from my first mixed media and crafting efforts through my bouts of theology and sharing gratitude to ... now ... art. This was formerly provokingbeauty.blogspot.com and you can now access it via www.leanneshawler.com just in case you're wondering what the new website address was about. Let me know if you have any problems with how this looks. I've tested it in a few browsers and it looks okay. Also that weird triangle thing on the upper left and lower left of this post? Click on it and you'll be able to share this post (well, if you wanted to, which is not too likely for this particular post). I have yet to figure out how to nicely keep the share icons on view. The help instructions aren't particularly helpful, but I'm not ready to move to WordPress yet. (Y'all know th...

Hey guys, just so you know, I'm giving my blog a bit of an update and a name change and a new focus (yeah, yeah, you've heard that before) upon my art. So if it looks a bit weird, apologies. My goal is to get this ready for the New Year because I will starting a new project that is potentially crazy for someone who works full time to do. Stay tuned.

It's been a while since I've written. We can blame it on the insane amount of preparation and effort that goes into the High Holy Days. (And of course, then I wrote this and it sat on my iPhone for a week.) But even though I am working during Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur services, so often I end up worshipping. This year, I discovered that singing the Misheberach, the song I prayed through the night while my father was dying, brings back all the emotion of that night. Even though we sang it multiple times, I still remembered that night and choked up. [Note: I wrote that post while still home in Australia and it needed some serious editing, so I think it is more readable now.] The other thing I learned was the meaning behind the shofar calls. Hearing the shofar (a ram's horn) is one of my favorite moments, especially the last note. One of the rabbis shared that according to 17th century Rabbi Isaiah Horowitz,  "each group of sounds begins with a ...

Don't worry this is not going to become a cooking blog. I just wanted to share this story. My spouse and I were watching an old Tracy/Hepburn film called "Desk Set", which I was pretty terrible honestly, not the least because nobody involved with the film knew how an actual computer worked. But when the leads get wet in the rain and Katharine invites Spencer in, she produces Floating Islands out of her kitchen. (Well, actually, she asks Spencer to get it.)   We were intrigued -- what was this dessert -- and while their impromptu supper descended into men beating chests and Katharine brilliantly looking completely disgusted, I googled. I ended up with this recipe, and two hours later, I had Floating Islands, sans caramel sauce. This month I am doing Flora's Creative Revolution Challenge and this fit in perfectly as a response to the prompt of Food Art. The interesting thing about this challenge is that it is in no particular order, I get to choose...

emily p. freeman runs this  link-up once a quarter. And of course I don't keep track of new things I learn like she tells us to, so here's my best go at it. 1. Life is too short. It just is. If you have lost an immediate family member, you know this. It has been causing shifts in my thinking. 2. My feet remember the uneven paths of my childhood. It sounds like the first line of a novel. But it's true. There isn't a sidewalk for a block and half from my childhood home to the local shopping center. My feet knew the way. 3. If you neglect an orchid, it will bloom profusely by itself. Bonus: you will also ruin your assistant rector's sermon as he used a metaphor about carefully tending orchids. Don't worry, he saw the picture of the orchids on Facebook and worked his way around it. I got this last year for my birthday. It got soaked in the monsoonal rains we had this winter, the roots rotting -- and all I did for it was empty out the water from its contain...

The High Holy Days are Coming! The High Holy Days are Coming! It has a been a week. High Holy Day preparations are ever-increasing in urgency and yet we found the time to stop and look at the sun. With the proper glasses, of course. Friday morning I attended the weekly shvitz minyan, which is gentle yoga/stretching with Hebrew chanting and learned something rather lovely. Friday was the first day of the Hebrew month of Elul. Elul is the month of spiritual preparation for the High Holy Days and is beautifully summarized by a verse from Song of Songs. You see, the letters that spell out Elul are an acronym for a verse from the Song of Songs 6:3: "Ani l'dodi v'dodi li" or "I am for my beloved and my beloved is for me". [which comes pretty close to an accurate Hebrew translation of my church's motto: "love. be loved."] The above card was made by the rabbi who led the shvitz class. At the bottom you can see the word elul...

Isaiah 56:1,6-8 Psalm 67 Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32 Matthew 15: (10-20), 21-28 White supremacy has no place on this earth. Anti-semitism has no place on this earth. Nazism has no place on this earth. For the Bible tells us so--especially in this week's lectionary passages, which are so perfect for a response to the burst pustule that is the shame of this country. We cannot let shame win. We have let it win in this country -- and in my country of birth (Australia) -- for far too long. I knew, early on, that I didn't want to be racist, bigoted or a misogynist, but I lacked the bravery to speak out against it and for that I am deeply sorry. In recent anti-immigrant conversations, I shone a light on the inherent racism of it, telling people that I am an immigrant, I have been through the system, but is it okay that I am an immigrant because I'm a safe white lady? Can someone be racist and not at the exact same time? I wonder now at how many times I un...

1 Kings 19:9-18 Psalm 85:8-13 Romans 10:5-15 Matthew 14:22-33 It has been a bit of a week, to put it mildly, with two so-called world leaders engaging in a nuclear-themed pissing contest and with unashamed racists marching in the streets and driving through peaceful counter-protesters.   While reading through the lectionary choices for today, my eyes settled on the following words, and in a form of lectio divina, kept returning to them again and again.   from Psalm 85:10:   Mercy and truth have met together; * righteousness and peace have kissed each other. and Romans 10:8 (also Deuteronomy 30:14):   “The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart”   But the way to these words was not easy. At the end of the first reading into today’s lectionary section, Elijah is told by God that 7,000 faithful Israelites will be spared, but the rest destroyed.   It’s the kind of comment by God that would give an End-Timer a har...

Exodus 34:29-35 2 Peter 1:13-21 Luke 9:28-36 Psalm 99 or 99:5-9 In last week's reading, the kingdom of heaven was hidden: a mustard seed invisible in a field, a speck of yeast, a buried pearl. This week, the kingdom of heaven is in plain sight: and it's too much for mere mortals.   In our Exodus reading, the Israelites and Moses' own brother run away at the sight of his radiant face after he comes down the mountain from his chat with God. They are only able to look upon Moses' bare face for short periods of time when he shares with them messages from God. The rest of the time, Moses is veiled, his face concealed, hidden, for it is too much for the people to live with. "It" being the reflection of God's glory, or, as I like to think of it, overwhelming divine love. In Luke's gospel, Peter, John and James witness Jesus' face change and his clothes become dazzling white. Radiant. That and the descending cloud of God and God...

Genesis 28:10-19a Psalm 139: 1-11, 22-23 Romans 8:12-25 Matthew 13:24-30,36-43 Earlier this week, I was complaining how impenetrable this week's lectionary readings are. At first glance, Genesis is a bridging passage between two important stories (and doesn't tell the whole story of Jacob's encounter with God); who can tell what the hell Paul is talking about except that we're hoping for something we can't see because if we could see it wouldn't be hope -- which is more indicative perhaps of either Paul not being imaginative enough or drunk or a deeper wisdom (hmmm....); and the   parable in the Gospel is all about judgement and casting into flames all the evil doers of this world ... or is it? In last Sunday's Grantchester , Sidney Chambers is asked why God can't simply answer a question and he says "but then it wouldn't be faith". He ends up having a crisis of faith himself.  So what ARE we waiting for? What is this ...

It has been a while since I blogged the lectionary. When I decided this past week that it was the time to get back to it, I discovered that I'd started doing this in Year A in 2014. And we're back in Year A again. Today's lectionary readings: Genesis 25:19-34 Psalm 119:105-112 Romans 8:1-11 Matthew 13:1-9,18-23 This could be subtitled, "Wherein I get caught up in Paul but thankfully remember what it's all about. (Hint: God's love.) In Judaism, there is no original sin. God created humanity in God's likeness, with free will, and so as Rabbinic Judaism describes it, humans have yetzer ha-tov , the good inclination, and yetzer ha-ra, the evil inclination, the latter being "a drive toward pleasure, property or security, which left unlimited, can lead to evil" (per myjewishlearning.com) However, this is not all that humanity is made of, so this is not a simplistic dualism. There is also the mind, the heart (equivalent to the gu...

In the last weeks of Dad's life, I wanted to go and sing him a prayer I had learned in the synagogue, a healing prayer called the Misheberach. Unfortunately, he passed away before I could get to him and the news that he was hours from death wiped out the idea of singing it to him over the phone, whether or not he could hear me.  It became a prayer that I prayed for my dad as I tried to keep vigil halfway around the world. It became a prayer for me as I grieved. I had a notion of singing it at Dad's funeral as a healing prayer for others, but there were already so many sticking their oar in and I also knew myself well enough that it would not be a day that I could sing anything. The first word of the prayer means "the One who blesses". The tune I learned was by Debbie Friedman and it is a mix of Hebrew and English. You may be wondering why I didn't cling to the Lord's Prayer or some other Christian mantra. The words have been a source of comfor...

Here are a few things I learned: Talk to your loved ones , even if they annoy the crap out of you. You may never get the chance to. My dad passed away this week. We are two terrible communicators and not all the calendar reminders in the world were sufficient for me to send an email. (We are separated by an ocean.) And then, after a visit and a promise to talk more, the cancer metastasized. We started talking weekly. The cancer took him quicker than we all thought. I thought I had time to get home. I didn't. Kindness is an incredible gift. I wrote about the kindnesses exchanged when a group of us went to support the local Islamic Center. You can read about this incredibly moving experience here .  Are you creative? (And don’t mind the occasional four-letter word dropped?) The Pug Party Podcast might be for you. It’s Roxanne Cable, mixed media artist, and her husband James, comedy writer, talking about the creative process, their careers, the nerdy things they ...

What is the difference between being a creative writer and an artist? Aside from learning different skill sets, of course. This question popped in my mind while listening to a podcast recently. The Pug Party podcast is hosted by Roxanne Cable, artist, and her husband James Siciliano, writer. They talk about art, writing, being nerds, and occasionally pugs. (They own two.) As someone who has been a writer and is now an artist, it's really interesting to hear their perspectives on their work. In their first episode, they talked about their creative processes. James spoke about story circles, which is a way of envisioning Joseph Campbell's the Hero's Journey. Unfortunately, what sometimes happens to me in listening to podcasts is that it provokes my own thought processes and I end up going down a completely different track. Which may mean I'm not as good a listener as I thought I was, but also, I rarely listen to podcasts because I tend to drift off with one ...

When I went through Education for Ministry , we learned four different ways to tell our spiritual autobiography, where God had shown Godself in my life. Two of the ways were by using a timeline or by using images. Now that I have recognized that I am an artist and in particular a visual artist instead of a writer of fiction, I thought it would be interesting to see where art has been -- or where I have been an artist -- in my life. The first story I remember writing was a few sentences on top of a page illustrating a blue monster, which represented the bullies in my young 8 year old life. I remember my mom taking us kids to the art gallery, and I loved the quiet space and the art on the walls both realistic and expressionistic. Art was one of my favorite subjects throughout primary (elementary/middle) school and high school. Projects leap out of my memory: using watercolor pencils to do a continuous line sketch of branches and the whorls within; creating a clay bowl ...