Dramatic waves of Crayola

My favorite thing about using crayons is the names of the colors! Unlike the unimaginative names given to colors in cross-stitching (see previous post), a Crayola box is full of fun and inspiring names, and sometimes I get distracted by just reading all the labels.

I used five crayons to color the lagoon: pacific blue, sea green, blue-green, cerulean, and indigo. I wanted to give some movement to the water, so I colored in broad strokes that arched in different ways. Then I smoothed over it with short horizontal strokes. I'm not sure it came out the way I thought it would, but I'm happy with it:

Center panel of "The Little Mermaid II"

The thing about broad, arching strokes is that they make me feel very dramatic and I get a bit carried away. If you look closely, you'll see the blue crossed many lines that it probably shouldn't have, and tinted the boat, the hair, the clothes, the flowers in less than professional ways. But I was coloring to the rhythm of the song "How He Loves Us" (linked below), and at the time it felt just fine and even now, I have no regrets.

I was thinking of the love of God, which is like a hurricane on the sea, fierce and awesome... taking our steady hearts and boring lives and stirring them up with such power that we get carried away and turned violently into something new and unrecognizable.

And I was thinking of His grace, which is like an ocean that sinks all of us who dare to enter into it... so much deeper and wider and infinite than we could ever image, and it never runs dry but springs fresh and new every morning to cleanse and restore us, and drown us.

And I was thinking of how heaven meets earth in a "sloppy wet kiss"... when God walked in the garden, when Jesus wrapped himself in baby-soft skin, when the Holy Spirit crash-landed like fire on the heads of the saints, and whenever we slow down enough to observe his hands move and listen to his voice sing over us.

So I color in broad strokes, in arches, and in layers, and I get "pacific ocean water" all over the page, because it reminds me of the incredible and reckless love of God.

Listening to: "How He Loves Us," by John Mark McMillan

Composing, Conducting, and Coloring

Summer is finally here! I was outside today, enjoying the sunshine and blue sky and some of my favorite summer songs. Near the top of my list is the ENTIRE soundtrack to The Little Mermaid. So my current artsy-type project is in honor of that:  

Right panel of "The Little Mermaid II"

I have a coloring book of Disney scenes that were painted by Thomas Kinkade - much like the cross-stitch I did this spring. The thing I love about these pictures is that they are actually divided into three panels. So the image you see above is the far right side of the painting, and there are two other pages that complete it. I'm working on coloring all three at the same time, as my early-summer project.

I've decided to use three mediums: pens, pencils, and crayons. So you can see I've outlined the whole picture with thin pens, and I've started to fill in parts of it with colored pencils. My plan is to use several blue crayons for the lagoon water, to give it another dimension. We'll see how it turns out!

Outlining is tedious, but I love the effect it gives, don't you? It reminds me of the "percussion" that Sabastian begins his concert with, a simple baseline. I like the way he is perched on a rock in a waterfall, conducting the sounds of nature to create the mood and rhythm of the whole scene. And do you see his smile and the joy in his eyes? That reminds me of my Creator, and the expression He surely had on his face as he created stars and starfish, plants and planets.

I think He must have taken incredible joy and pride in everything he created with just a spoken word. I wonder if He held up his hands and conducted as birds and frogs and whales found their voices, as the wind played on reeds, and waves crashed together, and the leaves and branches whispered in mighty trees. I wonder if He closed his eyes as he carefully tuned the cricket's wings and the river's current. He decorated lagoons to be romantic, he designed canyons to take our breath away, and he made the hills come alive with the sound of music.

What a composer, what an artist He is!

Currently listening to "So Will I (100 Billion X)"

The Tale as Old as Time

I finished it! One month, from beginning to end, and so pleased with the result... 

Thank you, Andrew, for giving me such a thoughtful gift, and thank you, readers, for following along on this little journey with me! It was really special to spend this time listening to some of my favorite praise songs, reflecting on love and grace, and meditating on color and story and symbolism in stitches. I took so much joy in creating and worshiping the Creator in the process.

In case you were curious, the image came from the Thomas Kinkade Disney Dreams Collection, and is just a small piece of a much bigger and even more elaborate and beautiful painting called "Falling in Love." (I did look it up, and there are also 5x7"-half-picture and 16x12"-full-picture cross-stitch patterns of the same painting - that would be a challenge!) Yet another illustration of how our limited vantage point is only a small piece of the grander story...

This last song link is not "technically" a praise song, but if you've learned anything from this blog series, I'm sure you can find a way to let it lead you to worship. And if you do, please comment below and let me know how. (Also, be sure to pay special attention to the last image that is shown at the end of this music video!)

Listening to: "Beauty and the Beast," by Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson


P.S. Cross-stitching is just one way I like to be creative. I also like to color, sketch, write poetry, crochet, take pictures, etc. Maybe you like to cook, bake, garden, cut hair, carve wood, do make-up, sew, glue, paint, macrame, quilt, basket-weave, Lego-design, make wreaths, make jewelry, make music, build, fix, or renovate. Whatever you do to add beauty and life and purpose to the world, remember that it is a gift from the Creator, let it draw you closer to his heart, and use it well as an offering of praise and worship to him.

Common Thread

I started working on Belle recently, and I was surprised by how many colors I use for her that I also used for Beast. From Dark Red-Brown to Medium Gold, it just goes to show that no matter how different we think we are, there are things that we all have in common, that bind us together.

In the story of Beauty and the Beast, the natural tendency is to think of Belle as "the Beauty," but I was reminded of what the enchantress told Beast when he was cursed: "Do not be deceived by appearances, for beauty is found within." Really, the story is about discovering the beauty inside the beast. As Belle got to know the Beast, she began to see that inner beauty, through the ways he showed kindness and gentleness toward her, and in the ways he fought for her and protected her.

I was thinking about how (contrary to the handsome actors who typically play him in movies) Jesus wasn't a beauty. Isaiah said that "he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not" (Is. 53:2-3). Thing is, He is God, so he really could have picked any human shell he wanted to, right? He could have looked like Hercules or even Jim Caviezel if he had wanted to! But I think he chose to look average-to-ugly (or less than desirable) to be even more like us (Phil. 2:6-7)... to give us more common thread to relate to and feel in some way connected with him. I'm so thankful he stooped so low, not just in his life but abundantly more so in his death...

This week before Easter, as I reflect on the cross and all the bloody, gory, horrific realities it represents, I am overcome with thankfulness... because I know that Jesus died so I could be forgiven and restored. He may not have been a pretty face, but to those of us who have met him - who have been saved and redeemed and changed forever by him - he is the most beautiful person in the universe.


Listening to: How Beautiful, by Twila Paris

For the Birds

I finished up "the Beast" and a few odds-and-ends, so I'm now done with five or so colors! A friend told me about how if you save the bits of left-over thread, you can set it outside and the birds will use it to "decorate" their nests... which sounds like something my Grandma Chandler would have done, so I've decided to do it!

Some of what I have been finishing up involves just 1-5 stitches here and there around the edges of the image. Part of me doesn't want to waste the effort it takes to thread the needle (topic of the next post) to put a couple of tiny Xs where they may or may not even be noticed. But then I realized that these little spots are actually part of the bigger picture... the one that goes beyond the frame and the canvas. They are edges of leaves that belong to unseen trees, and they are stones that lean into other unseen stones that make up unseen walls that hold up towers that... well, you get the idea. They remind me that what is seen is not the whole story and is not where the journey ends. They are like the ellipses at the end of a sentence, indicating there is more, so much more...

(see what I did there?)


Everything in all creation points to the bigger picture - from the smallest leaf to the highest tower, from the most powerful ruler to the baby that is so tiny and new its mother doesn't even know about it yet -  nothing is insignificant in turning our focus and leading our hearts to majesty of God. Praise the Lord that what is visible is not all there is. Praise the Lord that what is mortal is not the end. Praise the Lord that his glory does not fade, his love does not fail, his mercy does not die, and his amazing story stretches from eternity to eternity... 

Listening to: "O Praise the Name (Anastasis)," by Hillsong Worship

Building Muscles

Why it was necessary to use five shades of blue in the Beast's fancy suit coat??

I worked on this relatively large chunk - probably 1/4 of the whole image - last weekend A LOT and let me tell you, my arm was hurting from the effort. Seriously, my elbows, shoulders, biceps and triceps were actually aching! And I got a little cranky from the tediousness of all the colors and their random curvy paths on the canvas. Taking a break halfway though, I looked at the unfinished product, and started to laugh:

Do you see what I see? Because what I see is rippling, bulging arm muscles being formed! I took a minute to marvel at the power of subtle shades of color in creating shadows and dimensions to express and enhance the underlying strength in the Beast's arm.

And then I took another minute to marvel at the way God uses even these tiny stitches and colorful strands and creative projects to exercise my muscles and make me stronger. The up and down motion that my right arm does over and over to pull the thread through the canvas, the constant grip of my left hand and wrist to hold the frame still while I work, the fine motor workout for my right fingers to pinch, hold and direct the needle, the silent steadiness of my left arm to hold the framed canvas up so I can see it and work on it... I'm doing something I enjoy, I'm creating something lovely, I'm meditating on and worshiping my Creator, and in the process, He is building my muscles.

Of course, strength doesn't come quickly or easily. It takes some pain, some risk, lots of trust, and lots of endurance. And in my physical and spiritual daily exercise, sometimes I don't see progress and I lose sight of purpose, and I get weary... kind of like I did in my stitching. But then God reminds me that he is doing the real "heavy lifting" and just asks me to continue to be faithful in what he has given me, and he will carry me... He is so gracious, patient, and faithful. He will finish the work that he has started in me, and it will be beautiful.


Listening to: "Make My Life a Prayer to You," by Keith Green

The Beast, in Layers

Ok, enough with the background colors already... Do we even remember what this image is about? Right, Beauty and the Beast - that classic tale of unconventional and unexpected love. 

I've turned my attention to the Beast... There are four shades of brown that layer upon each other to create his shaggy head, so it took a couple days for me to complete it. As I worked on his face, I listened to the fabulous soundtrack to the live-action(ish) movie, especially enjoying Dan Stevens' solo, "Evermore."

This image that I'm stitching comes at the moment in the story when Beast realizes he loves Belle, and because of that love he has to let her go... choosing to give her freedom is a frightening and difficult thing, because she could choose to abandon him and forget him. But his love is stronger than his fear, and he does what is right, even if it hurts (or kills) him. What courage! 

It feels like the gospel is in this story... the way selfishness and hatred create a beast, a curse which cannot be reversed except through the pure and true love of another. It isn't a true analogy, because Belle isn't Jesus, she is human and has her own issues to work through... but I'll save those thoughts for when I stitch Belle. :) For now, as I focus on this moment with the Beast, I'm praising the Lord that in my weakest, worst, "beastliest" state, He loves me, and He is faithful and true. 

Listening to: "My Redeemer is Faithful and True," by Steven Curtis Chapman

Fifty Shades of Gray?!

... Well, maybe just five shades of gray - but it feels like fifty! (Was that too inappropriate??) In sorting and separating the colors, it always amuses me (and slightly annoys me) when the color descriptions read like this: "Medium Gray," "Light Gray," Medium Light Gray," etc. The differences are so subtle, I go a bit cross-eyed trying to distinguish which color name matches with which floss. But I'm learning that there is purpose in these details - each strand on its own isn't so remarkable, but together they are becoming a valuable part of the greater image.

We're going on two weeks of cloudy/rainy weather, of which I am not a fan. When I look out the window, my primary descriptive word is "gray." But really, I am starting to notice that there are lots of shades out there, and they add dimension and depth to the sky and landscape, a sort of multi-faceted beauty of its own... a subtle gradient from light to dark, shadows on the edges of clouds, watermarks on the rooftops, streams running down the road... they all work together to tell a story. Ok, on the surface, it's the story of a rainy day, but if I look closer, I see a deeper story... a story of cleansing and purifying - carrying away the old, making way for something new and fresh, creating opportunity for life to be refreshed and restored... oh Lord, you bring beautiful restoration, hallelujah...

Listening to: "All the Poor and Powerless," by All Sons & Daughters

The First Stitch

I started another cross-stitch project, one that my brother Andrew gave to me as a gift... because he knows I love colors, crafts, cross-stitch, Disney, and Beauty and the Beast. It might be small, but look at all these colors!!

After separating out the strands of embroidery floss, framing the canvas, and threading the needle, I'm ready for stitching. And where do I begin? Right in the center... which according to the pattern is a random grey spot that obscurely blends into the background. It doesn't look special or significant in the grand scheme of the picture, but it's a start, and it will act as a guide for where all the other stitches will land.  

On the recommendation of my other brother, Kevan, I've decided to document the progress of this project as the first "miniseries" on this blog, called "The Art of Celebration." The title comes from the Rend Collective's song, "Boldly I Approach," one of my all-time favorite praise songs. I also chose the title because of the realization that being creative and artistic are qualities that we all have in some way, because we've been made in the image of our Creator (Genesis 1:27), and therefore our creative expression can be an act of worship when it reflects His glory. So I will share with you the things that come to my mind and heart, as I stitch and worship through song and prayer and wonder.

"This is the art of celebration: knowing we're free from condemnation! Oh, praise the One who made an end to all my sin!"