PoiemaArts

Joy of Zentangling...

I love doodling -- any form, any type, any ... you name it! My husband James insists swirls are my signature doodle type.

Several months ago I was introduced to Zentangle.  According to zentangle.com, it is defined as "a way of creating beautiful images from repetitive patterns. It is fun and relaxing. Almost anyone can use it to create beautiful images. It increases focus and creativity, provides artistic satisfaction along with an increased sense of personal well being."

One of the places I like to frequent is Milliande Art Community. The following video is a very relaxing play with zentangle patterns...

 

I really enjoy doodling in repetitive patterns.  It helps my mind and spirit to work in harmony as I am drawing. I have begun learning different patterns several of the zentangle enthusiasts have come up with... below is my play with the Allium pattern.

This next zentangle was a creation in the car in January on our return from visiting family in TN.

Zentangle is movement in joy... It is a dance of the spirit... As I reflect on God's universe it is no surprise that zentangle is the new medium which gives voice to our joy, to harmony and to the dance of the spirit... God said, "I am the Lord of the Dance", what a rejoicing.  Keep on zentangling...

Create... Re-Create... Re-Purpose

When I was growing up the words second-hand, thrift, used were considered pretty much no-no words in my family.  In my college years, environmental engineering -- my field of study, received neither much praise nor attention. Slight background info: I grew up in Turkey.  The first time my parents witnessed a garage sale at our next door neighbor's several years ago, I remember my mother asking, "why are they selling their things, don't they have any money?"  It was not that there were not any thrift stores or garage sales in Turkey, it was that my mother did not believe in such a thing.

I guess this type of teaching seeps into one's mind and heart.  Combined with the great American consumer spirit (yes I am being sarcastic...) reusing, repurposing, thrifting has not entered into my daily living until I got married to my wonderful, minimalist husband James. Well, at least, he was a minimalist before we got married!  I have learned much from him about the simplicity of having a few things rather than hoarding the whole world...

As I have grown in my faith journey with Christ, I have also desired to make an impact with my footprint for God's wonderful creation. I just took another ecological footprint quiz.  Even with all the changes in our lifestyle we would need 3.32 earths to sustain our living habits. Now this makes one wonder!

Still I am moving forward with my habits for reusing and repurposing.  Since most of what we buy for food is fresh and not processed, I try to recycle creatively all that is processed.  Cans, plastic and cardboard containers, glass jars and bottles may become wonderful items for decoration, art, storage and gift giving.

Here is an ensemble I created for spring. A panko bread crumb container covered with a napkin glazed with gloss gel became the holder for pip berry flowers from a craft store... I covered a plastic frozen dinner container I found with moss which became the home for my thrift store bird.

Below is my garden ensemble. Glass bottles and large aluminum cans spray painted and decorated with beads and rub-ons with a few twigs from the garden to hang found items.  Decorations are my mother-in-law's finds from her thrift store trips. All wonderfully are placed on our front porch with herbs and other plants to come...

Some tomato cans and paper napkins collected at yard sales and thrift stores become elegant containers for pens, paint, brushes you name it.  Just cover the cans with a coat of gesso, layer the napkin with mod podge and finish a gloss varnish. The variety of artful napkins truly inspires one with joy...A feast for the eyes.

 

There is so much re-creating and re-purposing to do... We recently taught our Sunday School kids about being stewards of God's creation.  We gave them boxes of stuff -- found, collected, otherwise would-be thrown away objects -- and asked them to create something new.  I regret we have not taken any photos of their wonderful artwork.  We were all filled with such excitement about the possibilities...

This week we are turning old wine corks into ornaments with beads, buttons and charms at our church for the annual Harvest Bazaar. The photo shows the first batch completed a few weeks ago.

The invitation is for all of us... We can use the wondrous creative gift God has instilled in each of us to add beauty and joy to a environments while reducing the size of our eco-footprints...

Create... Re-create... Re-purpose...

PRAYER FLAGS FOR INTERCESSION

One of the names of God in the Scripture is Yahweh Nissi meaning “The Lord is my banner.” This name is a symbol of God’s over-arching presence in everything.

As people of the Jesus way, we proclaim God’s sovereignty and providence, not only in our lives, but in all creation. God’s love, grace and mercy extends through the universe as God’s Spirit moves, saves, touches, shapes, nurtures, beckons, blesses one and all reminding us the wise words of Christoph Blumhardt… “Everyone must concede that the kingdom of God comes not through logical concepts but through surprises.”

The Scripture calls us in Ephesians 6:18 to “pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints.”

Recently as I was getting ready for this weekend's Practicing the Presence of God retreat I have discovered how prayer flags are a wonderful way to engage in prayer for our neighborhood, community and ultimately the whole world.

They may help us visually focus our intercessions and God’s intentions for the world. The Psalmist declares, “May we shout for joy over your victory, and in the name of our God set up our banners. May the LORD fulfill all your petitions. (Psalm 20:5)” Raising flags with our intercessions covers the whole earth with God’s banner of love, grace and mercy...

Traditionally a prayer flag is a colorful panel of rectangular cloth, often found strung along mountain ridges and peaks high in the Himalayas. The prayers displayed on the flags are believed to be carried by the wind across the countryside with the intention of blessings, peace, compassion, strength and wisdom to all on the breath of nature.

Prayer flags come in sets of five colors representing the basic elements: Blue symbolizes sky/space, white symbolizes air/wind, red symbolizes fire, green symbolizes water, and yellow symbolizes earth.

People continually mount new flags as the present ones are deteriorated in an effort  to recognize that life moves on and there is always new life.  In the act of renewing the flags, people acknowledge that they are also a part of the ongoing cycle of life.

There are many ways one could delve into making prayer flags.   I spent some time today in creating my first prayer flag (pictured above) using a faux batik method.  Here are some suggestions for the process:

• Spend some time with the Scripture. In prayerful silence, ask the Holy Spirit what prayers and blessings God wants you to offer on behalf of others.
  
• Select words and symbols which resonate with your prayers. I find one of the great ways to have an image overdose is to google the word or phrase about which I am thinking.  Try it and it will really inspire you.
• Cut a piece of cloth about 12"x12" from white muslin.  I have discovered white muslin allows me to be free with my own colors as the Spirit guides my prayer.
• Write or paint your prayer on the flag. You may choose a simple word, maybe the name of your neighborhood, verses from the Scripture...
• After you complete the prayer flag, hang it by folding and gluing or sewing in place the side of the cloth through which a rope will run. Pull the rope through your flags. 

As you fly your flags remember to raise God’s banner in prayer.

Faux Batik method is easy: As the resist, instead of wax, you use  a liquid mixture of flour, alum, and water to draw a design onto muslin. 

Mix in a bowl or blender 1/2 cup water, 2 teaspoons alum powder, and 1/2 cup flour.  Mix thoroughly to remove any lumps. You can double this recipe.  Pour contents into a plastic squeeze bottle.  Lay out wax paper on your workspace with your cloth on top.

Draw your prayers by squeezing the alum mixture onto the cloth in thick lines. Make sure your lines are not too heavy with the mixture.  I used my hair dryer to help speed up the drying process of the flour mixture after the drawing is complete.

Once dry I painted with acrylic.  You could use fabric or tempera paint as well. And don't worry going over where the mixture has dried it will resist the paint. After the paint has dried, thoroughly rinse the cloth removing the mixture and the excess paint. Either hang the flags to dry or put them in a dryer to heat-set the paint.

Blessed prayers to all....

Creating Space to Dance Together

Everyday I receive short daily meditations from Henri Nouwen Society. Today's meditation spoke to me deeply:

"When we feel lonely we keep looking for a person or persons who can take our loneliness away. Our lonely hearts cry out, "Please hold me, touch me, speak to me, pay attention to me." But soon we discover that the person we expect to take our loneliness away cannot give us what we ask for. Often that person feels oppressed by our demands and runs away, leaving us in despair. As long as we approach another person from our loneliness, no mature human relationship can develop. Clinging to one another in loneliness is suffocating and eventually becomes destructive. For love to be possible we need the courage to create space between us and to trust that this space allows us to dance together."

My prayer for today is to seek God to fill me completely so that my relationships will allow me to open myself to the discovery of the other without any agendas.

The Artist of God

Yesterday, I finally had the chance to catch up with a year's worth of my Books and Culture reviews.  In one of the issues there was an ad for a creative writing program at Seattle Pacific University.  The ad began with these words: "Great writing grows out of a respect for mystery, for the ambiguities that haunt the edges of experience." Below is a poem from the same issue which resonates with the reality of these words. It is written in memory of Fae Malania, author of The Quantity of a Hazelnut.  I encourage all to read this gem about exploring the spirituality of the daily grind.

The Artist of God
Marly Youmans
All Saints Day 2007

The litter of fallen leaves is ankle-deep
And all my words are black ants on the page.
What can I say that's worthy of a life?

Your tower of private dreaming is no more.
Your mouth stops open like a chorister's,
The mirrors go veiled, the window's propped ajar.

"Ineffable," my dictionary sings
As starlight gilds the larches of paradise.
You drink from a shining cup and are made whole.

No, your isle of blessings is not like that.
It is beyond all our imaginings.
The words pour through me and are lost in mist.

The world in time's a dark and thirsty place.
Dear friend, from Paradise-the-blest will you
Fetch me one drop to cool my burning tongue?

Marly Youmans is a novelist and poet.

Sunshine in My Soul

I love mandalas, and I love creating them. I finished this one in 2007. It is digitally created using various programs. It is called 'Sunshine in My Soul.' I think in these times of uncertainty and anxiety, we need to be reminded that God is for us. And if God is for us, who can be against us? I pray you will gaze at it with a heart open to God's grace and mercy today. My week has been full of blessings, signs and miracles. I have once again realized that God is not interested in my failures, but my desire to seek Christ at every moment of my life. As Henri Nouwen said, "Our desire to please God does in fact please God." At every turn this week I was reminded that my failings are no indication of God's amazing love for me as well as God's desire to lead me to joy and abundance.