GOD'S GARDEN

God's Garden is not really a place where flowers grow. It is a place where people grow. It is where all of us are right now. We are always in this garden from the time we are born until the time we die. Hopefully in life we will grow in the right direction and that direction is toward God. We are all here for the same reason. We have to sprout and grow wings like a bird in order to fly there. Either way it will be a rough journey and growing is usually a pretty painful process. Our lives here are not about what we are going to get....but about what we are going to give.

I painted this painting from a photograph of a garden in Bay Head, N.J. I had seen and painted this garden before, but, somehow, I was drawn back to it. I wanted to see it in a new way.

I was in Point Pleasant, N.J., nearby, preparing to sell my deceased parents' house. My brother, who had lived in the house, had passed away in Jan. 2007. It was a difficult time for me.

This garden represented hope for me. The whiteness of the fence and the beauty of the flowers was like a balm for my grief. Many of the plants in my parents' home are now still living and settling in to new peoples' homes. We all need to move on after difficulties in our lives.

I encourage all my artist friends, and others, to use their creative talents to focus on the immediate beauty around us. I know so many people who seem to seek to travel all over the world to find new sites and experiences.

Think about looking in your own backyards or down the street to see things in a new way. It is at that point where you notice something that you haven't really looked at before......that you will gain new insights and, perhaps, be able to create a really beautiful work of art.

I WISH YOU ALL CREATIVE ENERGY.....AND HOPE!

Love, Kathy

WHERE THERE IS DARKNESS

This is a painting in watercolor and pastel of a column in a hall at the Cloisters in New York.
I was fascinated by the original photograph with the small window leading to the light.

HELP US IN THIS ADVENT SEASON TO ALLOW THAT LIGHT TO SHINE THROUGH US, SO THAT THE DARK AREAS OF OUR LIVES CAN BE PIERCED BY CHRIST'S LOVE.
From a service at the Cresskill Congrega-
tional Church,
Cresskill, N.J.
Sunday, Dec. 2nd.
http://www.cresskillucc.org/



WHERE THERE IS DARKNESS,
LIGHT

From the Poem of St. Francis

If there is darkness in your life at present, it is my holiday wish for you all....that light may shine through and make your way easier.


BLESSINGS THIS HOLIDAY SEASON.

THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT A TOWER....

There is something about a tower of a building that brings me closer to God. I often choose to paint a tower, a steeple or a lighthouse, reaching up to the sky.
It seems to reach up to heaven. This is the tower of the Tenafly, NJ railroad station that has been turned into "Angelique's cafe." The food is great!
Last time I met a friend there for lunch, a train actually went by like in an old-time movie.
"What lovers of beauty seek in paintings, in sculpture, in dance, in music is just a reflection of the absolute beauty that is God."

From Words to Live by, Inspiration for Every Day, by Eknath Easwaran

I WENT TO THE WOODS

I went to the woods because I wished to live

deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. Henry David Thoreau

This is a watercolor/pastel painting of the Celery Farm pond in Allendale, NJ.

The shape of the two trees seemed "linked together". The pastel makes the painting more powerful when used over the watercolor. The water did remind me of Thoreau's Walden pond in Massachusetts. Spending time in nature helps me slow down, THINK, and just BE.

FOCUSING ON DRAWING A TREE!

I drew this tree in the Tenafly, NJ town park as our Artists' Circle group was working there in Sept. 2007.
There were many scenes to draw, but I decided to focus on a large beech tree. I drew the outline of the tree trunk and branches, but then never looked at the tree again.
I realized I couldn't focus on the tree and drawing the tree. So I concentrated on just looking at the paper as I worked. The pale beige pastel paper became the light areas of the tree. A single piece of dark brown pastel chalk was used for all the ridges of the bark. None of those ridges were actually on the real tree, but by focusing on the drawing, the tree was formed and actually looked like an oak tree. The pale blue was added to the center trunk, making it look a little further away.

"Your focus will emerge naturally out of your sense of who you are and why you are here, and it will most likely resonate with your God-given talents and interests." Thomas Kinkade

Balancing Act

This painting was done this August, 2007 from a photograph of the Catskill Creek in Freehold, N.Y.

When I saw the balancing rocks, I was amazed. How did they get that way? The rock emerging from the water had another rock perfectly placed on top of it! Perhaps the creek was higher at some time, causing this unusual arrangement.

I reflected on things happening in our lives: the death of a loved one, a change of a job, conflicts in relationships, etc., that cause us to be "out of balance."

The lesson of the rocks is to come back to our center, take deep breaths and regain our balancing point.

"To be fully alive, fully human, and completely awake is to be continually thrown out ot the nest." from Pema Chodron - When Things Fall Apart, Heart Advice for Difficult Times.

Meditate on these rocks when you may need them.

Fall is coming!

Hi to all my friends,

Fall is coming! The days are getting shorter. When I am up at 5:30 walking Alex, my dachshund, it's already dark here in Teaneck, NJ.

I hear from my son in Ithaca that it's already getting cold up there. And it's only mid-August.

For your viewing pleasure, here is one of my favorite paintings.

I did this last year after our church's "pumpkin festival". Soon the pumpkins will be out on the lawn again..for sale.

The painting will be hanging in the church lounge soon, after the renovations of the interior of our church are completed.

You can sit all day and look at pumpkins. The light hitting one side of them makes them look so beautiful!

Get out those sweaters!

Kathy