Painted Prayers for the Earth

Dear Friends,

God bless you, your loved ones and your ministries this week!

I am working on a new series of paintings called, "Painted Prayers for the Earth". They are similar in style to the Painted Prayers for Haiti except I am limiting my pallette to the six tertiary colors (red/orange, red/violet, blue violet, blue green, yellow green, and yellow/orange) plus black and white. All of my colors will be clean, which means that none of them will be mixed with brown, gray or black. I will mix them with white though.

I am working on one that I started last Wed. morning. I worked on it for 3 days in a row and took the weekend off to spend time with my family.

It is only about 1/2 way done. When I finish, I will post it for you to see.

Love, Sue

Back Yard Studio

Dear Friends,

God bless you, your loved ones and your ministries this week!

Where is paradise for you?

I have a little piece of heaven at the back of our lot, next to a woods that is ablaze with wildflowers at the moment. I set up my easel there this morning and am working on a large piece, which is a painted prayer for the orphans of Haiti.

I love my job!!!

Love, Sue

A Good Day of Painting

Dear Friends,

God bless you, your loved ones and your ministries this week!

How do you feel when you have a productive day?

Yesterday, I was a little lost at the beginning of the day, which is a blessing, because I always want to be forging ahead in uncharted waters. It makes me lean on God for answers.

The biggest reason I paint is for the relationship I have with God while doing it. If I kept doing what I know how to do, I wouldn't feel the connection with God, but when I am puzzled and searching for answers, I feel God's presence and guidance. Oil painting is the perfect medium for this dynamic, because it is so difficult to master and there are endless possibilities.

I have been painting since the crib and plan to continue for the rest of my life and will still be learning new tricks of the trade when I'm 100 years old (Lord willin' and the crick don't rise!)

The answers that (I believe) God gave me yesterday worked, even though I was scared to try them. It's fun to create a satisfying product, but it is even more fun to feel God's touch in one's life.

Love, Sue

Art Show

Dear Friends,

God bless you, your loved ones and your ministries this week!

Did you ever have mixed feelings about a success you had?

Today I put up a one woman show at the Art Center of Battle Creek II, on Michigan Ave. in the downtown section (where the bakery used to be.) I'm happy about my success.

I'm also sad, because I'm not quite ready to part with all of these paintings at once. I had them in our bedroom and kitchen where I admired them often throughout the day. I am going to miss them; they are my babies.

I suppose this is preparing me for the day when we take our son to college!

Love, Sue

Continued Mission

Dear Friends,

God bless you, your loved ones and your ministries today!

What keeps you motivated?

I have been distracted by other parts of my life from my mission to paint prayers for the people of Haiti, so I did a little research on Twitter into the recent news from there. The conditions are horrendous! The night before last it rained all night long, flooding the tent cities. Most of the adult residents stood up all night long holding their children, to keep them up out of the water. Can you imagine?

The prison in Port au Prince broke apart during the earthquake, releasing 5000 prisoners, some of whom are a threat to innocent people. The photo from the BBC of a "chapel" in the prison showed that the prisoners were being housed there in crowded conditions with no bathroom facilities. The floor was a sewer, so the prisoners hung up hammocks from the ceiling to get out of the sewage. Plastic water jugs hung from the ceilings where they kept their water to drink. It's no wonder they fled when the walls broke apart!

Some Haitians are getting on fishing boats, risking their lives against the ravages of the sea to sail to Jamaica or anywhere to find better living conditions.

The people of Haiti need our continued prayers and support to survive the horrors they are still facing.

Love, Sue

Finally Finished!

Dear Friends,

God bless you, your loved ones and your ministries today!

How do you feel when you finish a project?

I am pleased because I finally finished Painted Prayers for Haiti #6-#11. I had some professional photos taken of them and posted them for you to see. I hope you find them enjoyable and inspiring.

Finishing is extra hard for me, so when I do it I am extra happy!

Love, Sue

Time and Love

Dear Friends,

God bless you, your loved ones and your ministries today!

Do your projects take longer than you anticipate?

I was hoping to have more paintings to photograph and post for you this week, but my desire to improve the work got in the way of that plan. Oil paintings can take a tremendous amount of time and love!!!

That's okay though because it's time spent loving.

Love, Sue

New Paintings

Dear Friends,

God bless you, your loved ones and your ministries today!

How do you feel when you finish a project to your satisfaction?

When I was little, I followed my grandmother around the farmhouse and yard like a puppy dog. I dried the dishes she washed, made the beds with her (slapping the feather pillows to fluff them), put the cinnamon rolls into the baking dish after she kneaded the dough, rolled the brown sugar and cinnamon into it, then cut it into magic pinwheels. I caught the overhauls when they came through the wringer on the washing machine and pushed them down into the cold rinse water, then I caught them after they went through the wringer the second time and put them into the laundry basket. I handed the clothespins to her as she hung them on the line and simply watched in fascination as she sprinkled them with water and ironed them.

Everything my grandmother did was a ritual and she did it perfectly. When she taught me to quilt, she emphasized how important it was to have the corners meet exactly. Her knitting was so tight that the mittens she made for all eight of her grandchildren every year, kept the cold and snow out, no matter how long we played outdoors.

I learned my craftsmanship from her and set my standards equally as high as hers.

In Seminary, I learned that getting a B+ instead of a A+ was "very good" and I changed many of my standards for myself, especially when it came to housework!

However, there is still one area of my life where I try to be as absolutely perfect as I can be and that is with my art. Before I can sign an oil painting it has to "be my baby" and I have to be able to live with it on my walls at home. So calling a painting finished is not easy for me.

But I did it! I finished Painted Prayers for Haiti #4 and #5! I posted them for you to see. I hope you enjoy them, dear friends.

Much love, Sue

To Everything There Is a Season

Dear Readers,
God bless you, your loved ones and your ministry today!
When we stayed near a small village in Haiti, our dormitory rooms had no ceilings, so it was like the Walton family. We could talk at night which we did when we heard the voodoo drums, because it was our first night there and we were scared by them.
The open ceilings made it impossible to not overhear conversations in the next room. Now I will admit, that my husband and I love to eavesdrop in restaurants on the people sitting at nearby tables, but other than that, I am not known to intentionally listen to other people's conversations.
I couldn't help but overhear a young woman on our trip who was a PK (pastor's kid)complaining about how she felt like she had to make an appointment to speak to her dad. My heart went out to her and I made a vow to myself that my future children would never have to feel that way.
I was one week away from entering seminary at Boston University, and though I was single, I had a very dear wish to marry and have a family.
Since that time, God has blessed me with a husband, a son (who turned 14 yesterday), 3 stepsons, 3 daughters-in-law and 5 grandchildren. My cup runneth over!
While I pastored a church, I was diligent about my time, being fair to everyone, God, myself, my family and my church. I was trained for good boundaries by punching a clock for 10 years as a jeweler.
Now that I am passionately painting prayers for Haiti, I find it hard to quit work at the end of the day and spend time with my family. Yesterday was our son's birthday, which meant taking time to create a party, (which we all enjoyed!) Plus my grandson wanted me to paint his face with multiple eyes like Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean, because his youth group was having a pirates' night.
Looking back on yesterday, the birthday party and the painted face were the most memorable and meaningful parts of my day, even though I feel my work is important. I must keep in mind the wise words from Ecc., "For everything there is a season..."

Photo of My First Painted Prayer for Haiti

Dear Readers,
I hope your weekend is going well.
Below is a link to view a photo on my facebook page of my first painted prayer for Haiti. This composition was inspired by a child I saw in 1985 outside of a village in Haiti. She was under a tree dancing. The idealization of the scene in this painting is my prayer for all of the girls in Haiti to be healthy and happy enough to want to dance.
www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=1054&id=100000235247355&1=b0bda2654f

Haiti project

Dear Readers,
Thank you for logging in today. I hope you are happy and well.
Yesterday, I was able to paint all day on my Haiti painted prayer project. I changed the sky and ocean in the second painting. It takes at least two and sometimes three coats of paint to get the perfect blend that I love in the sky. I must have varied skies in my paintings or I'm not happy.
I discovered the beauty of blended skies one day when I was in an apple orchard painting on site. When I looked up the sky was bright blue and when I looked at the horizon it was light blue. I think it is because we are looking through so many more particles in the atmospere when we are looking at the horizon.
Now I am blending skies with a spiritual intention in mind rather than trying to create a sense of natural realism. I use the technique to create auras around people, trees or animals. I feel the spirit of trees and animals like I feel human spirits. This is because of a holy experience I had.
When I was 19, I received my call into the ministry for the first time, as I was out on a dock listening to a friend play guitar and sing a song of praise to Christ. I heard the lake, the hills, the trees and all of nature join in singing that song with my friend and all of heaven! It lasted for maybe one or two minutes, but those moments have defined the rest of my life and I try to put the ecstacy of that event into everything I paint.
These images I am painting of Haiti are in direct contrast to the photos we see on the news. I am painting the reality for which I am praying and hoping for the children, women and men of Haiti. These images are inspired by some of the beauty and hope that I witnessed when I visited in 1985, 1989 and 1990. I saw plenty of horror and dispair, but there was also love, kindness, and even bits and pieces of joy here and there.
I saw kindness when we gave a school girl a sandwhich and she broke it into pieces to share with her school mates. I saw joy in the faces of the kids at Grace Children's Hospital who were getting well after being well fed and receiving the medicine they needed for TB. They climbed all over us and coudn't get enough of our hugs and smiles. I saw hope and beauty on top of the mountain in the worship at the church with open windows looking out over the sea. There were brightly colored rectangles of tissue paper attached to strings that were strung over our heads in the sanctuary that fluttered in the breeze as we praised God. Toddlers sat silently next to their moms for the two hour service without squirming! The pastor was honored with a donkey to ride up the mountain before church. He was an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church and had a 72 point charge! There were lay pastors at the 72 churches and whenever Rev. Moise Isadore came, they had communion and baptisms.
I started a third painting of that church on the mountain surrounded by a small circle of Haitian worshippers. In the border surrounding the central composition, is the rubble of the earthquake.
I am putting the rubble in all of the borders and hope, worship and joy in the spiritual "window" at the center of the canvas.
The images for the first two paintings are inspired by some darling girls we saw in the outskirts of the village of Petit Guave. They saw us from a distance and started dancing and yelling, "Blanc! Blanc! Give me one dollar!" They were under a canopy of trees and were as appealing as could be!!!

Painted Prayers for Haiti

Thursday, Jan. 21, 2010

Thank you for reading my blog! I am in the midst of a project to paint as many prayers for Haiti as I can and write a blog about it. Many of you I are devastated by the news from Haiti and I share your grief, which makes me want to do more than simply sending my money, although that is an important part of the Haitian recovery. (I give through UMCOR, United Methodist Committe on Relief, because 100% of the money goes to the needy because our denomination covers the administrative costs. Their address is UMCOR, PO Box 9068, NY, NY 10087, or www.umcorhaiti.org.)
In addition, I believe in the power of God through prayer and creative prayers satisfy the soul of the one praying, plus they seem to connect us strongly to the Great Creator. In fact I feel that these creative prayers are a collaboration with the the One who created the world and all of the natural beauty that surrounds us. By working with God, we discover more than we would on our own and the communion with the Holy is wonderful! It's also a way of sustaining a prayer for hours over the course of a day.
I am missing my artist friends with whom I paint every Thursday in Craig Bishop's class at the Art Center in Battle Creek. We have been painting together for well over a decade and are a committed group of friends. The reason I'm not with them today is because I have a cold that I do not want to share with them.
Today I am working on my first two painted prayers for Haiti. Yesterday I loved the first and was unsure of the second. Now both are showing promise and I am off the the races with a new series. I had started painting backgrounds for a series called, "Windows of the Spirit" at the first of the year and now I am adding in the prayers for Haiti to that series, which will change some of the images. That's okay with me, because I love to allow my thoughts and plans to evolve as the paintings progress. The art seems to take on a life of its own and I feel like I am the first to discover what will emerge on the canvas. Perhaps that comes from collaborating with God. I have to let go of a strong sense of control over the piece and open myself to the leadings of the Holy Spirit in order to allow this teamwork to occur.
Sometimes I argue with my co-creator, being the fundamentally rebellious person that I am (just ask my husband!) For instance, I wanted to call the show "Windows of the Soul," but the thought came to me (in the shower) to call it "Windows of the Spirit." I knew that this thought was from God, partly because it occured to me when I was immersed in water. (Water is very spiritual!) I resisted for about 2 hours and then reasoned, "If I ignore this thought, I may not keep getting them." I surrendered and am glad I did, because all kinds of "God moments" have been coming my way and I feel blessed.
Well, back to Haiti. I went on a second trip to Haiti in 1989 with a United Methodist group led by another pastor whose name slips my memory at this time. We stayed in the United Methodist guest house in Port-au-Prince and worked at the Grace Children' International Hospital. Dulavalier had been overthrown which was a blessing, but the government was not stable and there had been violence during the elections. Baby Doc's army, which the U.S. had armed, because the Duvaliers were not Communist and Cuba was, created havoc during the elections in an effort to hold onto their power. Duvalier's army was feared among the people, not only because of their weapons, but also because of their connections to the Voodoo priests, according to our Haitian aquaintances at that time.
We visited the markets where the art work was incredible!!! Being an artist, I was fascinated by the artwork of the Haitian people. It seemed that many of the artists were men, probably because of the gender roles at that time. Most of the women were busy carrying water on their heads, washing clothes by hand in the streams, cooking on small charcoal fires or selling food. Some of the artists painted in oils on canvas made of cotton flour sacks, some carved figures or animals out of wood and some painted in water colors on paper. There was an identifiable Haitian style, but most artists had their own way of working that was distinguishable from the others. They sold their artwork for about $30 for a 16 x 20" oil, which meant they made very little money per hour, but they were thrilled to get that much. The tourists were often the ones to buy their work or Americans and Europeans who lived and worked in Haiti.
We met an American nurse who had a fabulous collection of Haitian art. This was the good stuff, from the galleries, not the street vendors. When I inquired about it, she told me that whenever she got angry at someone, she bought herself a new piece of art in lieu of losing her temper at the person who was the target if her anger and telling them off!!! What a great idea! Perhaps all artists could earn a living if the whole world subsribed to that practice!!!

Sue's Painted Prayers

Jan. 20, 2010

Like many of you, I am sickened by the conditions in Haiti. After giving my money, I felt I wanted to do more, so I am painting prayers for the people of Haiti.
Prayer is an important part of my life. I am a United Methodist pastor and five years ago, I believe that God called me from the pulpit to the easel. I have been painting all of my life and it is my greatest passion outside of my family.
Today I finished my first oil painting that is a prayer for a Haitian child. I started another one yesterday and am about 1/3 of the way done with that one. I can see that it has at least as much possibilities as the first one, which I love.
In 1985, I took my first trip to Haiti to work at a United Methodist mission in Petit Guave. It was an eye opening experience for me! Baby Doc was still in power and there were posters with his photo on it plastered everywhere. The malnutrtion was so widespread, that few Haitians had escaped its effects. Many toddlers had enlarged stomachs and skinny arms and legs. Most adults were small in stature, some were the size of 10 year old children from the U.S.. Teens were the size of upper elementary kids from the U. S., but their feet were the regular size for a person their age. Only 15% of the population could read and that was about the same persentage for the kids there who had the opportunity to attend school.
I was shocked by the prison system. Haitians told us that if a loved one were arrested, no one knew about it usually, unless they saw it. Families were not notified by the government. This was especially tragic, because it was up to families to provide food for prisoners. Our tour guide told us that he heard on the radio one day that his father was being released from prison. The father had been missing for several years and no one in the family knew where he was. Somehow the father survived and was reunited with his family.
We visited Grace Children's Hospital in Port-au-Prince where children were being treated for Tuberculosis. There was an older woman there from Canada who picked the chidren up one by one to rock them and comfort them. She said that it was hard for her to get out of bed in the morning, but that God helped her to get up so she could do her ministry to the sick kids. Holding the babies in that hospital myself broke my heart. Their breathing was labored and they were so skinny, it was unbelievable. I will never forget it for as long as I live.