Painting, Miles and Passion...

I thought I'd post of few things I painted this weekend and so you the start of something else I started working on. First of all Steph had an order from work for a welcome sign with sunflowers but has been so busy she hasn't been able to get to my house to paint it. She called me desperately requesting that I paint it for her. She does a beautiful job on her sunflowers so I hoped I could do one that was as good as hers. I even signed her initials before spraying it with acrylic because I wasn't sure if her friend expected her to paint it or not. She told me later that it would have been ok for me to put mine. Oh well, I had fun painting it.

Without flash...

...with flash.

I painted this apron to wear to my painting class on Saturday. I have gotten just a little bit of paint on nearly everything I own so I decided that I needed something to paint on consistently. I wanted it big and bold so when I got paint on it, it would show too much. Well, I certainly got big and bold. It's a nice apron with 3 pockets. Here is the Calla Lily picture frame I painted in class. I struggled with it at first but was diligent and pretty happy with the outcome. I decided to put a picture of me at 1 year old with my beloved great-grandmother whom I lovingly called "Memomer Partridge". She babysat me a LOT when I was a baby and a young child. She passed away when I was 16 years old so I knew her very well and have so many wonderful memories of times spent with her. She would always make me my favorite, "Chicky and noodles". I also remember taking a baths at her house in her vintage claw-foot tub. She'd also play with me hours on end making tents and reading books in them. She had the most gorgeous hair and she'd let me brush it for her. She was a special woman in my life and I miss her dearly.

One of my coworkers asked me to make a sign for her Mom to put on her door at her nursing home. So, I painted this tonight. I love the colors and the yellow is beautiful against the green. This is without the flash...

...this is with the flash.

Here is my latest project. This is going to be a birdbath...hopefully!

As you can see, they are tera cotta pots and a saucer.

I painted all three pieces with Wicker White Outdoor paint.

The same lady that wanted the Sunflower Welcome Sign wants a birdbath with Sunflowers also. I believe Steph said they are wedding gifts. I'm excited to see how these come out! Check back to see the work in progress. I hope to be able to work on it some this week but I'll have to see how my week progresses.

I feel compelled to mention the loss of a wonderful young man, Miles Alpern Levin. He was diagnosed with a rare form of pediatric cancer just over 2 years ago and the Lord called him home early this morning. He was only 18 years old but in those few short years and especially in the last 2 years of his life since his cancer diagnosis, he made a huge impact on thousands of lives. Those who had the joy of meeting Miles in person received a special gift but even those, like me, who just knew of Miles through his Care Page, his CNN interviews and other public appearances, were touched. He showed great courage, strength, insight and decided no matter how long he had left on earth he wanted to make a difference in the lives of others and he did!

There is a comment on his page that links to a beautiful powerpoint presentation, What WILL Matter. If you have a few minutes, please take the time to watch. It is at the very least thought-provoking.

~

Steph, Brian and I taking a "Network" class on Spiritual Gifts at Lifepoint in the spring. Due to some conflicts with the facilitator and other extenuating circumstances we finally had our follow-up meeting today after church. I'm going to try to meet with Brother Joe this week about starting a ministry that allows me to focus on my spiritual gifts of Mercy, Helps, Encouragement & Craftsmanship along with my passion for the elderly. Our church is so young (4 years) and has a fairly young congregation so that is an area of ministry that hasn't been looked at a whole lot. There are a lot of areas we discussed today where we can serve God and serve others and I am so excited about this opportunity. My passion for the elderly stems from knowing all of my grandparents and 3 of my great-grandparents. The elderly are so wise and so often neglected. Our world has become so fast-paced and busy that we forget what is important. I'm hoping to help change that in our community. Take care and stay tuned for updates on this ministry as well as more painting and family updates. Hugs ~ Kim