by Amy | Mar 11, 2015 | Bible Reading, Blog, The Art of Faith
To me, there really isn’t anything sweeter than an accomplished goal. Dreaming big is fun. But imaginings are much sweeter when they come to fruition. I’ve got some far out goals that are a loooong way from being reached, so in the mean time, I’ll savor every mini-goal that comes up along the way.
Last month Derek and I officially reached a goal. We finished memorizing Colossians. A whole book of the Bible now lives in my head. I know it’s a short book, but now I know the whole thing by heart. Yes, there were hard days. There were days when I didn’t memorize anything at all. There were days when the spiritual warfare that comes along with an undertaking like this was hard–so hard I wanted to throw in the towel. But by the grace of God, we did it.
I’ve done a lot of really cool stuff in my life. Like, really cool. But I’ll admit this is one of the coolest, and best ways I’ve ever spent my time. So tonight I thought I’d lay out some of the things I’ve learned any why I enjoyed this process so much.
Dwelling on the right stuff. Philippians 4:8 tells us to let our minds dwell on the right stuff. I’m constantly surrounded by people, TV, books, and talk radio. I try my hardest to be intentional about what I let my mind consume. I’m incredibly prone to dwell on worries and woes–but while we memorized Colossians I spent a lot of time dwelling on the right stuff. In an attempt to keep it all in my brain, I’d go over the verses–sometimes multiple times a day. This calmed me, refocused my thoughts and allowed me to meditate on His word all day long.
Filling up dead space. In my day there are chunks of time where I’m alone with my thoughts. Whether that’s while I’m out on a walk, going on my weekly ice skating excursion, or while I’m driving–there are times when it’s just me and whatever is in my head. Instead of using this time to stress or worry, I go over all four chapters of Colossians. It takes about 30 minutes and I always feel refreshed.
A better understanding. Because we were going over the same verses day after day, only adding one new verse every day {sometimes every few days toward the end}, it gave me a chance to really think about every word in every verse. The big picture context came into focus as more verses were added–but this process allowed me to zero in on the importance of every verse.
Quotable quotations. Since I was dwelling on the words and thinking deeply about their meaning, verses were on the tip of my brain–just begging to be quoted in everyday conversation. I can’t even begin to count the number of times a Colossians verse has come in handy in the past few months. The verses come to mind easily and I’ve found that the context {as well and individual verses} have been very useful as I’ve prayed for people, prayed aloud, encouraged, and fielded questions about my faith.
In the past, sometimes when addressing a tough question or situation my mind would go blank for Scripture–even though I knew it was in there somewhere. With four chapters fresh in my mind, I am finding these moments less intimidating and my mind drawing fewer blanks.
BFF. This process stretched Derek and me both mentally and spiritually in a new way that moved us closer to God and closer to each other. It was a great time of holding each other accountable and encouraging each other on days when we didn’t “feel” like memorizing. {It’s really cool that there was never a day when we both felt that way. When one was slacking off, the other was quick to insist that we at least go over everything we had learned so far.} It’s really cool to have shared this process and victory with someone.
Being vulnerable. Memorizing Colossians wasn’t all rainbows and ponies and fun times. It was hard. Not just mentally hard. It was also spiritually taxing. God loves it when we study His word, spend time with Him and hide His wisdom in our hearts…but Satan hates it. The spiritual attack I encountered while memorizing Colossians was one of the biggest I’ve ever faced. BUT–I wouldn’t change it for the world. As cruel as the attack felt–God’s grace is greater, He is mightier. We made it through and God has blessed us for persevering. Better Praying. Paul is an expert on prayer. Within the book of Colossians {and the other books he wrote too} there are great examples of how to pray, what to pray for, how to word your prayers, and how to pray with expectation. Ever since I started memorizing, my prayers have changed. Paul leads by example and he is a great example to follow.It’s left me wanting more. Until we set this goal, I didn’t see myself as much of a Scripture memorizer. I have verses committed to memory. I like memorizing, but it wasn’t my favorite Bible-related activity…and I didn’t prioritize it like I should have. Now, I see that I can memorize big chunks of Scripture as long as I attack it with a plan. We haven’t started in on another book and I’m not sure we’ll do another one in the near future…but I’m wanting more. I’m anxious to select another passage or chapter to begin memorizing.I know I can do it. As we move forward I’m confident in my ability to memorize Scripture, but I’m also confident in your ability. Really, if we can do it–so can you. I started memorizing when a friend told me her 12 year old cousin memorized a whole book of the Bible. I thought, “If a 12 year old can do it, so can I.” I want you to have that same mentality. Memorizing a big chunk of Scripture {or even a small bit} is so worth your time! Most days it didn’t even take more than 15 minutes {the longest it ever took was 30}. It’s doable and I challenge you to give it a try.Amy
by Amy | Mar 10, 2015 | Blog, The Art of the Moment
In January I was contacted by a very sweet “senior mom.” You know, a mom of a high school senior. She had a request that was unique for me–unique for January in Practically Canada. Her son, Jordan needed senior portraits. He will be graduating in 2015. He’d like his photos outdoors. He’d like them in the snow. And so I started on a quest to create the perfect winter senior portrait session, just for him.
In other parts of the country, this request might not have been such a tall order. But here, where the wind howls with temps that could make a penguin shiver {okay, maybe I’m exaggerating just a bit}, where the wind blows hard and strong, where snow can blow away over night, and snow might not even be in the forecast despite the cold air–it was a tricky request. But you know me. I like a challenge.
So I agreed. I explained that we may need to schedule and reschedule. And they were okay with that. And that’s just what we did. Take #1–unseasonably warm {40˚ F} weather melted our snow leaving brown, muddy terrain. Take #2–winds of 30 mph, and a windchill advisory kept us inside. Take #3–the high was -8˚, again, we cancelled. Take #4–27˚, snow on the ground, snow in the forecast, no wind–jackpot.
We were still pretty chilly–but it really was a magical afternoon and I love the effect. I’m simply smitten with the images in this first group–especially the one on the left where you can see the snow falling!
I’d say the scheduling and rescheduling was worth it. Eeek!! I just love these!
Jordan loves reading, so at the end of our chilly session we headed to one of my very favorite places in town–the library. The staff at the Minot Public Library are amazing. They’ve let me shoot inside several times now, and I am so grateful. I think these images stuffed with books are just the coolest. This was my favorite part of the session because I learned that Jordan and I have similar taste in books–and similar pet peeves when book and movie don’t line up like we think they should.
Congratulations on your senior year! I had an amazing time working with you–and meeting your amazing mom. I’m so grateful that you let me share this special snowy afternoon with you.
Amy
by Amy | Mar 6, 2015 | Blog, The Art of Living
I don’t know if I can remember a winter that has ever been as busy and fun as the one I’m living right now. I’ve had what feels like a blue million sessions for the Artists in the Schools program. I’ve had a few seniors request snowy portraits. A few babies have made their debut at the end of my lens. I became an aunt for the first time ever when my sis gave birth to the prettiest ginger baby you’ve ever seen. I’m in the midst of saying “good bye for now…” to one of the greatest friends I’ve ever had as she prepares to move to England. I’ve road tripped. I’ve been cat sitting. I’ve been ice skating and practicing my Tara Lipinski impression.
I’ve been busy with a thousand things. Which is why you haven’t seen too much writing here on the blog. I simply just haven’t been able to make time to sit and catch up.
But perhaps the best thing of all is my latest {maybe greatest} quirky skill. After years of searching, I’m finally learning to play the accordion. Yes. You heard me right.
Admittedly pretty much every ounce of free time I’ve had since bringing this bad boy home a week and a half ago has been tied up in practicing. It’s all pretty basic right now, scales, simple tunes, easy rhythms. I owe my friend Mary big time, because it was she that hooked me up with this beauty. She was kind enough to loan this accordion to me. To let me learn and decide if I want to buy my own.
As you can see, it’s gorgeous. Which is only part of its appeal. Inside the case there was a stack of accordion lessons that are copyrighted 1950. Adorably, they are called the “Modern Piano Accordion Course.” The colors are lovely and the graphics are so vintagey-cool I could squeal. Really, I think they are cute enough to frame. The lessons inside are sufficient for me–who had never touched an accordion before. I’m now working on lesson 7. I’m shifting between chords and working on treble clef fingering that “crosses under.”
I’m really thrilled. I really love it. {Can you tell?} As a collector of odd talents this will look quite nice on my proverbial shelf.
I’m eager to play for anyone who’ll listen. My neighbor kids just dropped by to see if we could play a board game. Before I let them bust out the Farkle I forced them to listen to a few songs. I’m still trying to make a Skype date work with my parents so they can hear the wonder that is me getting my polka on. {Do you think the fact that it hasn’t worked out yet is their way of telling me something? Nah.}
Anyway…on the blog next week, I’ll be telling you tales of cat sitting, tales of classroom art projects, and showing off a few photo sessions. I hope you’ll forgive the absence. I hope you’ll come and hang out and do life with me. It sure is fun.
by Amy | Feb 27, 2015 | Blog, The Art of Art
Over the next week I’ll be teaching six Artists in the Schools session at elementary schools across town. Today, I kicked off the marathon with a Water and Wax session with a group of first grade students.
The idea behind this session is to teach students a little science in with the art project–and to make something cool. We discussed the absorption property of water–how it sometimes soaks in to things, and other times rolls off a surface. Then I covered the fact that crayons, made of wax, repel water and led in to the project.
As you may imagine–if you’ve ever worked with elementary school kids–that getting the instructions out to a group of first graders was much more challenging in person than typing the words here on the blog. There was a lot of restlessness while the teacher and I tag-teamed to get papers taped to desks. Once they were down there was peeling of tape…and retaping…and a few threats of revoked participation rights.
Once the paper was out I heard this:
“Once we have a paper can we start?”
I hadn’t even shown them the example.
I explained our first step–find a light colored crayon. Not white–because we need to see our lines. Any other light color: yellow, light green, peach, light pink. Little did I know this would be such a hard step to follow. There were about four students sharing a table and caddy of crayons, so they needed to share their table’s supply amongst themselves. Once I told them to find their crayon, this is what I heard.
“Um, we don’t have a white crayon.”
“Okay. You don’t need one right now.”
“My favorite color is purple, so I’m using that.”
“Is purple a light color–something closer to white than black?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Okay. Pick another color…yellow, light green, peach, or light pink.”
“What about dark blue?”
“What about it?”
“Aaaammmmyyy! Our table doesn’t have light green!”
“Okay. Do you have one of the other colors?”
“Yeah.”
“So….the problem is….?”
“We don’t have any of the colors you told us to use. Can I use green instead?”
I look in the caddy. All the colors are there. I pass one to each child.
Once the color situation was mostly resolved we moved on. I told them to draw the first letter of their first name on their paper. Then I explained how they could add the “dragon scales” to one side of the letter to make it look a little more fancy. “If you understand what to do, you may begin.” Then things took an awkward turn.
“Uh, Amy…I did mine this way.” Dark purple crayon is on the paper. The teacher swoops in, asking why she used that crayon when only moments before, we’d given her a peach color to use. Paper is flipped, crisis averted.
While half the students are still working, the other half has finished and are now leaving their seats one by one and coming to my side {as I’m trying to help someone with a legit question} to tell me they’ve finished. Meanwhile, one little guy comes up and says,
“Well…I did an A.”
“Okay. That’s good. We’ll move on in just a second.”
“My name doesn’t start with an A. I did it because that’s what you said you were doing.”
A whole table–who was pretty chatty during instruction time–all drew the letter A, as in Amy, instead of their own letters. Untape, flip, retape.
Next direction. Trace your letter using that same color, or a white crayon. Go over it at least eight times. Make your marks nice and heavy, we want lots of wax on the paper.
This part went pretty smoothly…with the exception of a few who finished in about 60 seconds and immediately came to tell me that they were done. I just told them to keep tracing. When everyone seemed to have their letter traced enough times–one kid told me he traced his 38 times–we moved on to the paint portion of the class.
Paint is always scary to me, but these guys did great. Even the one who used so much that it was as much on the table as on the paper {see top middle photo above…} My very favorite part was hearing them gasp and get excited when their letter appeared after repelling the water color. “Its. Working!” I love when they think they’ve made something really cool. I love it when they are proud of their work.
All in all a good class, all in all, great work. I really love doing these sessions in the schools. Despite the weird questions and the faulty listening and the short attention spans, I really do think they try their best. And…Boy, oh, boy do they make me laugh.
by Amy | Feb 26, 2015 | Uncategorized
Lately I’ve been having project withdraw. Derek has been busy with work, I’ve been busy with work–which feels very weird, since winter is usually my “slow” season. We’ve started slowly moving on the basement. Emphasis on slowly. But, like I said–Derek is busy at the moment. And I, unfortunately, am still unable to undertake a large project on my own {still having a few back issues.} So, like I said, I’ve been going through a little withdraw. A little I-wish-I-had-something-to-work-on. A little I’m-dying-for-a-B&A.
Since I’m not one to sit around wishing for a project, I’ve decided to take on something I’ve been wanting to do for quite some time. Nearly six years, actually. It’s just never been a priority. I never really sat down and decided how I wanted to tackle it. Until now.
This is my coffee table.
It’s beautiful. I love it. It belonged to my grandparents–as did it’s two companion end tables. They are lovely too.
The pieces feature sturdy, interesting legs, good structure and a solid marble top. It’s not the nicest wood in the world, but it’s not that compressed saw dust a lot of today’s furniture is made of…and it’s a heck of a lot nicer than anything we could have picked up at Target or Ikea. I am incredibly lucky to have inherited such nice things.
I tell you this, because I want to stress that it’s not the piece I’m unhappy with. It’s the finish. You see, my grandparents were smokers for most of their lives, and the furniture has suffered the effects of second hand smoke. {I’m sure the age of the finish isn’t helping much either.} There is a gummy film on it’s surface. It’s been there as long as I can remember. In six years I haven’t been able to properly clean it. It just gets worse with every move…the packing blankets and straps dig in to the gummy surface and leave a textured impression on the finish. After four moves, the finish is really looking like it’s seen better days. Since it’s a little tacky–just a little–it also collects dust and cat hair. It’s hard to capture in photos, but I did my best.
When I’ve tried to clean it {using every product under the sun} I’ve only a) not improved it at all -or- b) rubbed the finish off completely.
So, in the next week or so, I’m going to try my hand at giving these puppies new life. I love them too much to paint them–so I’m going to first simply try to strip them down and salvage the wood. If that doesn’t work…I’ll make a plan B. I’ll be starting by using some left over products from the cabinet redo. You may remember me raving about the Rustoleum Cabinet Transformations kit. They make a similar product for furniture–but since I had some left over {thanks to my tiny kitchen} I’m going to start by removing the finish on the tables with the cabinet stripper.
Wish me luck. I’ll show you how things progress!
by Amy | Feb 25, 2015 | Blog, The Art of the Moment
It’s been a bit since I wrote something new…and I cannot think of anything better to share with you after being away than this precious newborn session. You may remember the Burnsides from their winter maternity session taken before Christmas. This is their daughter, Isabella. She is beautiful and perfect. I had a great time taking her very first portraits last week. There are lots of things I love about shooting newborns, but in this case my absolute favorite part was listening to her parents pin point whose eyes, nose, fingers and spine {yes, spine} she has. I think she’s a fabulous blend of both mommy and daddy and I am just so very happy for this new family.
I hope you enjoy this little peek of her session. All the photos are sweet, but I especially adore the series of lace newborn photos above! What’s your favorite?
The Burnsides have some very craft friends…who created some adorable pieces for her to wear during her session. I especially love this crocheted crown. I’m a fan of headbands, bows and flowers…but this headpiece takes the cake in my opinion. So cute!
The same crafty friend also created this fabulous Minnie Mouse set for her. Eek!! I think I let out an audible squeal of delight when they showed it to me. Her head is still too small for her custom Minnie Mouse ears, but I don’t think that makes this any less amazing. I like that she is a Disney fan right from the start!
Burnside, family–I had an awesome time with you. Thank you so much for choosing me to capture these precious first portraits of your precious little girl! Your photos are almost done and your flash drive will be in the mail on Friday.
For the rest of you–I’ll be starting a new project tomorrow…so be sure to come back. It sure has been a while since I did a furniture redo {hint hint}.
by Amy | Feb 16, 2015 | Blog, The Art of Living
In addition to writing to you about Katie’s Singing Telegrams last week {post here}…I also had the big-time fun of joining her on a couple of Valentine’s deliveries. Like I said, she’s my friend. As my friend, I want her to have good photos. And…if I’m being totally honest, I also really enjoyed watching her sing to strangers in a gorilla mask.
One delivery I tagged along for was at a local elementary school. The recipient works in the after school care program.
Upon entering the school in full Valentine-Gorilla garb, Katie immediately attracted attention. Kids were so curious about who she was and why she was in their school. One little girl turned to a friend and said, “Look, it’s a monster!”
Classic.
We found the target lucky guy in the cafeteria. He too, didn’t know what to make of this crazy gorilla. When she started strumming the ukelele and told him it was a “special delivery” just for him, he was pretty stunned. {See photo above.} He even stepped out and into the hallway…where he was followed by a singing gorilla, a co-worker, photographer, and hoard of kids. After the initial shock wore off, he was a great sport. The kids, while still a little confused really enjoyed it too. And I had a good laugh for quite some time, even after we left.
Seeing Katie in action was super fun. Now I’m really racking my brain to come up with someone to send a telegram to. So, if we are friends in real life–you and me–you’ve been warned. Someone in my circle will be getting a song in the coming months. It’s just so much fun!
by Amy | Feb 13, 2015 | Blog, The Art of Art
Today I did Art in the Schools with a second grade class. I have had lots of requests for Classroom Canvases…which I love doing, but it’s fun to do other things too. This color wheel session is one of my favorites because it teaches basic color theory–which totally makes me geek out.
Inspiration for this session originally came from this post on a blog that I really love. She has lots of great art inspiration for classes of all ages.
I started by explaining the color wheel. I was so impressed by this class. They were so well behaved and such good listeners. I made a diagram to illustrate the lesson. It’s just on poster board, and colored with crayons. We discussed the diagram, working from the inside out. At the center are the three primary colors. Next, along their edges, are the secondary colors–what you get if you mix those two primary colors together. The outer edge includes, primary, secondary and tertiary colors {those between primary and secondary colors.}
Most importantly, I explained the concept of analogous colors–those that are similar and sit next to one another on the color wheel. The black lines on the diagram link up the analogous colors of a secondary color wheel.
For our project I had kids trace circles {which they claimed was cheating–gasp!} on a sheet of water color paper, overlapping at the edges. Then, using water color paint, they filled their circles in using analogous colors. Here’s the gist. You can start with any color you like. Paint the entire circle. Then move on to a circle it overlaps. This circle must be painted with an analogous color–blending the paint where the two overlap, to reveal a tertiary color. Keep going until they are all filled in. It takes a little planning so that you don’t get stuck with a circle that cannot be matched–but this class had no problems with it. The diagram really helped those who got stuck. I just referred them back to the wheel when they were unsure of what color to use next–just follow the black line to see the two choices.
I emphasized that analogous colors are those that blend well together. They are colors we naturally want to mix. That colors from one primary to the next will blend together well…but if you go further the colors become complimentary and begin to cancel each other out if they are blended. I don’t think that concept stuck with everyone at first, but once they started painting I pointed out that their water reflected what happens when competing colors are mixed–you end up with brown or gray. I overheard one girl tell her desk mate that it looked like sewer water. {I’ve never seen sewer water, but I think it’s a pretty good visual.}
After doing this project I realized that it could also be done just using primary colors–creating a secondary color in the overlap. Maybe I’ll try that next time. At any rate, this was one of the best classes I’ve taught, and I really feel like they learned something. What a fine way to wrap up the week.
Amy
