"Bringing Joy to the Old"

During this season of life I've taken up a new-old hobby that's brought such joy to my life!  As a little girl I always did little art projects whether I was painting, drawing, making pottery or jewelry and as life progressed I became more interested in scrap booking and making jewelry.  But since being away from home, also away from my supplies, I stopped most of my artistic designs in college.

 

Now since I am home for a few months and in this crazy transitional period of life, I've taken up painting again for a number of reasons...

1) to make meaningful, inexpensive gifts for people

2) I've had these images pressing on my mind dying to be freed by a paintbrush

3) It brings such joy to my heart
4) Its a therapeutic activity for my mind and soul to focus on

5) My coffee shop barista took interest in my painting and mentioned the possibility of displaying and selling them in the coffee shop (stay tuned for the results...) so I've been creating enough to display.

You might ask why this random collection.... Well I am calling this collection "Bringing Joy to the Old" because these are all things that bring great joy to my life and I used old wood from a tree my grandfather cut down years ago. 

These dancers were a couple of my first paintings and were inspired by my love for dancing and exploring.  While studying abroad in Spain I took a flamenco class and think it is a beautiful dance and wanted to capture the beauty of a woman performing.  The other one represents my love for Latin America and salsa dancing that originated during my internship in Costa Rica.

This is simply to express my love for coffee! Some might not understand my love for this muddy looking drink but I love every aspect about coffee.  I love how it warms your hands when you hold it, having a heart to heart over a cup of joe, and most importantly I've learned to love the people behind every cup of coffee we drink. 

I worked for a non-profit Latino ministry several years ago, but have kept in close contact with the ministry.  This year dreams are coming true in bringing hope through cafe, between our sojourner brothers and sisters that many just see as foreigners in our country.  This year the organization sold 1800 lbs of coffee from a small Guatemalan village that will provide fair income for these farmers that are normally exploited for their coffee production.  God has blessed the ministry innumerably this year increasing the sales to an estimated 7000 lbs for 2011!!

This a fun piece I did painting a photograph of a beautiful Costa Rican sunset.  I also think it is neat because this piece of old wood I used looks like the shape of Tennessee so its like my life journey from TN to Costa Rica.   

This is a Tree of Life that came about from a lot of different avenues, but most recently God's really been speaking to my heart about us being like trees soaking up His word and bearing fruit.  

 Jeremiah 17: 7-8

"But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence.  They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water.  Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought.  Their leaves stay green, and they go right on producing delicious fruit." 

I love these verses because it points out that we must trust God and put our hope and confidence in him.  Also, I love the image of the tree and how its roots reach deep into the water but how they are not bothered by heat of drought because they stand firm in the Lord.  This has been a huge part of my journey these past six months in this time of raising support.