Birthday Blessings

Yesterday was my birthday, and how blessed I am...to be surrounded and celebrated for days with friends and family in so many lovely ways! My dear friend Elizabeth planned a wonderful evening, beginning with an herbal foot bath, and a meal fit for a queen! Then she surprised me with another of my favorite head-dresses she makes (for the modern tribe), and an incredible ceremony creating the most beautiful mhendi design on my hand! Thank you my beloved friend Eliza!!

Then the next night my 3 girls (at home) surprised me with a sweet gathering of friends, flowers luscious foods and gifts! Calls from my other 3 daughters (thank you Shariyah for this lovely tribute...http://www.shariyahgarner.blogspot.com/), gifts and gatherings with other friends continued to surround and bless my soul with so much LoVe!! Then last night my daughter Zionah gave me the most wonderful foot, hand/arm massage, with hand-made chocolate and candles, incense & music filling my room...sending me into a deep dream-land.

I thank my Lord for such a wonderful Life, and for the Love that fills my soul with beauty and grace.

Inner Sanctum

This is the first piece of art I've done in months, since moving the gallery, my daughter's wedding in Santa Barbara, moving my youngest on her miraculous journey to a boarding school in Monterey, CA., and having another daughter's incredible band HumanLab (http://www.myspace.com/humanlab) and friends in my home in for 3 weeks, while they were doing gigs around NW Montana. I'm also trying to find work and figure out how to hold on, have put my house up for sale, while 3 girls have moved back home & a grandbaby! Life has been full to say the least!!

So in the midst of it all, I've needed to find that quiet place where I can process, and be at peace. Such a reminder came as my next art assignment for the "Lucky 13" group I've been apart of, with a new theme each month to then pass on to the next in the group of 13 artists. This subject of "inner sanctum" has also brought me to this meditation by Rumi...."Worldly power means nothing. Only the unsayable, jeweled inner life matters. Everything you want and need is inside you."

So to "be still and know that He is God" is the resting place, where I know that "everything is working together for good".

My daughter's wedding

What a Day of Days!! On July 26, 2009 my precious daughter Shariyah became the blushing bride of Cameron Morris, her kiwi love. They have a storybook tale of God's miraculous Providence as they followed His leading and grew in love from the first day of meeting and kept their relationship pleasing to Him, with a faithful vow of purity and chastity until the day of their marriage! What a high standard and depth of holy love! It was wonderful to have all of her 5 sisters, and Cameron's sister Shea as bridesmaids, and a beautiful blending of our families in a lovely spot in Santa Barbara, CA. These first photos are the amazing works of Joy Marie at http://www.joymarieblog.com/ and scroll down to Santa Barbara wedding, Shariyah & Cameron.

Shariyah & Cameron reside in his homeland of New Zealand....and you can visit Shariyah's blog at http://www.shariyahgarner.blogspot.com

Mourning Dove

My daughter Zionah just turned 23 and I created this painting of her (for her) with a dove, as when she was a little girl we would call her mourning dove. She loved to coo like the doves we would hear in the early mornings on our farm in Tennessee. Each one of the six girls had an Indian name (inspired by 'Dances With Wolves').

I found this beautiful verse to write around the edge of the painting from the Song of Solomon..."How beautiful you are my darling~Your eyes are like doves...Arise My darling, My beautiful one, and come with Me...The winter is past, the rains are over and gone...flowers appear on the earth, the season of singing has come. The cooing of doves is heard in our land."

Birthday blessings my precious mourning dove...

Innocence

I just finished this new offering for the Lucky 13 group I am apart of, this time on the word "Innocence" with a sweet little angel child alighted on a bird's wing...and the thought on back reads..."We are not moved by the imagination of a child because it is young and fragile. On the contrary: the imagination of a child moves us because it is powerful and pure, and its song is confident and clear."

Corn on the Cob in Season

In our 'Lucky 13' group our latest subject was CORN, and my creation came forth quite unexpectedly! As the little corn girl took on her personality, and grave concern as she ripened and became more luscious for birds and hungry beings, I too became concerned for her very life! However I will most likely give in to the long awaited desire to partake of the soon coming 'corn on the cob in season'....yummmm

Faith & Hope, Love & Truth

It's been a long weeks since I've been able to post....been too busy putting my house up for sale, having yard sales, sorting , sifting thru 25 yrs. of stuff!  Oh, and then my computers nearly crashes, and was in the shop for a week!  So now I'm trying to catch up, and did these two paintings for a show on "mother's and daughters" last week...which is always a subject close to my heart (having 6 daughters!).  I'll put them up on etsy as well.