Leanne Shawler, Artist

This was the first time I had finished an icon on my own. I wanted to experiment with using Golden fluid acrylics as opposed to the recommended Jo Sonja paints as well as using a Claybord instead of a more traditional (and expensive) icon board. I started at the beginning of 2015, so I was very focused on using what I had and being able to write an icon. Which is why I used the blue tracing paper I had rather than getting proper carbon paper. The blue marks melted into the paint, so no worries there. The background went down gorgeously in many many layers. My first attempt at mixing the hair color turned out red and it was looking really streaky although is only two layers worth. I decided to fix that later. My concern with the Golden paints is that they are shiny. The parchment mix with the Titanium White shows just how shiny they can be. Would it stand out as super-shiny against the other not so shiny colors? Sankir, the shadow color down. I just love sankir ...

Written 12/21/15: Apologies for the sudden stop in posting. I got caught up in finishing an icon (it's still in progress) and finishing up LifeBook lessons for the year. I'm taking the class again in 2016 as there's a cool new crop of teachers.) Written 2/27/16: I finished the icon and will post about it later. I got obsessed with Hamilton (the musical). I forgot all about blogging. But found this post, last edited in December with "READY TO GO" written next to it in my Notes app so here's as good a place to re-start as any. "I will not be driven by perfectionism or performance - because I was formed by Love, for Love. I will simply Enjoy the Ministry of Presence today: God's presence, people's presence, the present moment, the gift of now. The greatest gift I can give back to our great God is to let His love make me glad." - Ann Voskamp. This is on the card for December 2 of Ann Voskamp's Advent reflections, which is also ...

As I am about to embark on the year-long LifeBook 2016 , I thought I would share my work from last year's Life Book. Before I started gluing things in I unfortunately bound the thing way too tightly forgetting to take into account the thickness of the watercolor pages, but oh well! I uploaded it smaller than its original resolution (with thanks to my hubby for doing the video while I flipped pages) but you can try going full-screen (or to YouTube) and pause to read the captions. It is about 3.5 minutes long. There are about 56 paintings in there, plus photos of work I did in my art journal that related in some way to Life Book 2015. Enjoy! (I shall resume blogging about light-bringing soon. I've been busy finishing up LifeBook and painting an icon. And always needing to look  up a particular reference.)

Chanukah is this week. Running from Sunday night for eight days, each night observers light a candle, remembering the miracle of how an oil lamp stayed lit for eight days even though the oil was almost gone. Rabbi Angela Buchdahl from Central Synagogue, shares in the short video below the meaning of the Shamash: the candle that lights the other eight candles over the course of Chanukah. She says: "Being a Shamash might not have all the glory of being a Chanukah candle but the light that the Shamash brings is no less miraculous." Watch the video below to learn about what it means to be a Shamash, a helper of light, in your own life (and stay tuned for the three blessings as the candles are lit during Chanukah). How are you a Shamash in your part of the world?

There is a movement of love afoot. Maybe it's because this is what I'm looking for in order to write about it, or maybe others have decided that what we must do is combat violence and hatred is start talking about love more, start living love more.  As they've appeared on my Facebook and tumblr feeds, I've reposted them but I thought I would collect some here, with original sourcing where possible (in other words, trying to be a good internet citizen).  1) Change the World Through Love "She felt like doing her part to change the world, so she started by giving thanks for all the blessings in her life, rather than bemoaning all that was missing from it. ... Each day she lived with more gratitude, more acceptance, more kindness ..." -- Scott Stabile (from his Instagram )  http://www.scottstabile.com/   This quote (and I encourage you to read the whole thing on Scott's Instagram account) begins with acknowledging blessings, then with lik...

"Be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10) Stillness is a habit of love, according to Ed Bacon ( 8 Habits of Love ). It's showing love to the Divine, simply by showing up and paying attention to God. It's showing love to oneself by being generous with one's time in order to find a calm center. I really struggle with stillness. It's been a part of my Rule of Life as an Associate of OHC (Order of Holy Cross) for about four years now and still I struggle. Even 10 minutes seems an insurmountable amount of time. And I don't get it. It's something I say I want to do and yet I've yet to form the habit. One of the questions Ed Bacon asks is to reflect on times when you felt that stillness. No monkey brain thoughts, just a calm, quiet peace. In discussions with my current spiritual director, I already knew that a pleasant environment is a key part of my seeking and finding that stillness. Some examples: watching the Hudson River with ...

The first habit Ed Bacon talks about in The Eight Habits of Love is generosity. What I did not expect was how closely gratitude is linked to generosity. I am not a morning person. Motivation to get out of bed is hard to find, I always want a few more minutes of sleep or dozing or even lying there cozy under the blankets. Ugh, getting up. After reading the chapter on generosity, I woke to my usual grumbling internal monologue and thought, no, wait a minute, and mentally listed several several things to be grateful for, very basic things like a roof over my head, hot water for a shower... The grumbles were gone and I was out of bed and headed into my day with extra energy. Ann Voskamp  also links generosity and gratitude. Ann has been writing about gratitude for a long time, writing down list upon list of things to be grateful. Her book One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are was transformative for me. I followed her example and wrote gift...