Leanne Shawler, Artist

I am experimenting with watermarks on the images in this post. Mainly because I don't want them passed off as somebody else's work. So, the lesson last week in LifeBook was called "Finding Strength", presented by Donna Downey, and named after the stencil of hers that she used in the class. I was tempted to follow Tam's additional sketching instructions to create something similar, but in the end went in a completely different direction. I thought to myself, what does "finding strength" mean to me... It started with this sketch of a sweet face. And then I thought I would put in shadows and a bit of color and saw what I did, freaked out and gessoed over it. (I should have taken a picture of it in all its hideousness.) And sketched the face in again, a little bit different (the mouth is a little off-center I just noticed). Also, in my art room I have a bit of an ant problem. Well, we're having a problem in the whole house, and larg...

Today I have mopped the kitchen and dining room floors including under the fridge because our dog recently died of kidney failure -- imagine oceans of pee. I am incredibly grateful to him that when he couldn't wait for us to get home from work, he went on the tile. So yes, I'm mourning my 16 year old dog, who we had for about 10 years of his life. Adopted as an adult with his brother who died last year ... This also might be a Sarah Bessey fan-post, because I have a large number of links from her blog. She writes really really good stuff, folks, if you don't follow her yet. It's probably way past time for me to buy her book... Who are your Somewheres ? The people you can say anything to. (Sarah Bessey) What is your motivation? (Sarah Bessey) I used to think God wanted a lot from me. (Sarah Bessey) . Oh, yeah, this one really resonated. To the young women reading "Jesus Feminist" (Sarah Bessey) Phew. Here are some other great blogs I've ...

I am going to start out by saying, I could do with a serious purge of stuff. That said, I have so much because I've flitted from scrapbooking to 3D creations (birdhouses) to fabric creations to painting on canvas to art journaling. It shows. On the other hand, I've gone from working part-time to not working to working full-time, so I know there are projects I really want to get to. (Like the Madonna art display quilt from a swap I was in several years ago.) I've taken a break from this blog party for the last couple of years, but if you want to see how my creative space has changed and developed (just in case you haven't seen enough creative spaces for one day!), you can see: in 2009 in its barest of bones (I didn't participate in the blog party, but wanted to show in 2010 how my room, which is a small third bedroom, had looked before.) in 2010 which is like a complete reveal with an additional post on my homemade hanky curtains in 2011 after an overha...

Which sounds like the lyrics of a song but here goes: 1) When you upgrade to OS 10.10.3 and PhotoShop Elements (6.0) crashes on trying to open jpg files to edit. What to do? Drag the files to the app icon and voila! Edit and save to your heart’s content. 2) Birthdays can last for more than one day. Sometimes up to two weeks! I have the cakes (and toasted marshmallow milkshake ) to prove it! 3) I had to be shown how to use tumblr. My Computer Science degree is officially useless. 4) Texting during the Great Silence probably counts as breaking the silence. So does, I learned, reading and writing in your journal. One is supposed to be still as well as silent. our room at Mt. Calvary monastery 5) Reading in a group "From Teilhard to Omega", a collection of essays edited by Ilia Delio. Teilhard was a Jesuit whose writings were banned but appear to have recently sprouted wings. The interesting thing I learned was that Teilhard's central theology i...

I took a break for a couple of years from participating in Where Bloggers Create , although every year I lose about a day and a half of my life poring over everyone submissions. There is time to sign up if you want to share your creative space on your blog. On or around July 11 (which is when the party starts), there'll be a place on Karen's website to sign up as part of a link party. There are more details on how to do that on her site as well. So -- stay tuned! (And thanks to Sandy at Quill Cottage for posting about it!)

OK, so it just won't be links on race relations, which has been a huge topic here in the United States, but there will be other interesting blog posts as well. First, if you haven't yet watched President Obama speak at Clementa Pinckney's funeral, please do. It's 40 minutes, but it's 40 compelling minutes. Amazing grace indeed. (Start it at the 1:20 mark.) Race relations: Repenting of 'Colorblindness' by Rachel Held Evans is a powerful piece " Afterwards, a black woman approached me and with far more grace than I deserved, reminded me that to African American listeners like her the image of God as a cosmic master is not only discomforting but frightening and oppressive."   What You Can Do About Racism at Love Bids Us Welcome David, Goliath, and Emmanuel Church by Rev. Mike Angell, his sermon from last week. And just in case you haven't seen Jon Stewart's monologue on the Charleston shooting. Here it is. Murder in the Char...

What has been the role of relationships and/or community in your spiritual growth? This question was recently posed on Facebook by Christianne Squires and I told her I could probably write an essay on it. So here it is. The roles of relationships and communities have both helped and hindered my spiritual growth. Community has hindered my spiritual growth by not teaching me. I've been a Christian from the cradle. I would say I spent the first half (currently) of my life not really getting Christianity. When your Christian education consists of some Sunday School and a confirmation class (where I was taught things my current church teaches to pre-K and elementary school aged children), it shouldn't be a surprise that I didn't really get it. I'd never been educated beyond a kindergarten level and somehow I was expected to know why it was so important to worship God and what exactly that entailed. I was taught nothing beyond "come to Sunday worship...