This My heart is stirred a noble theme
as I recite my verses for the king;
my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer.
Psalm 45:1
I was sifting through some old file folders and came across a stack of, “Quotable Quotes”, which I thought would be appropriate for this month’s theme- – the power of words. These quotes were written in moments of grief, joy, injustice, frustration, hope, comfort, and wistfulness.
In Passing
“I enjoyed listening to your father tell stories. He had an exquisite sense of humor that mingled through his words like delicate wisps of smoke and if one looked carefully through the tendrils, you would see a glint in his eye as brilliant as a diamond that confirmed they were in the presence of a great man.”
101%
“Dearest Marlene, I am glad we were able to reunite after 15 years of being apart. We seem to have weathered the “test of time” rather well. Thank goodness the exam consisted of multiple-choice questions that, statistically speaking, guaranteed a degree of victory in our lives. The questions asking us to describe our life’s journey at length were daunting but the bonus marks for our efforts were generously rewarded. Now, it’s time to heal, plant, laugh, and dance together again! “
Colorblind
“Black is not a color. As an artist, it’s only a pigment of my imagination. As a person with obvious physical limitations, black signifies darkness which can overwhelm me at any time. By God’s grace, I have brilliant lights of joy, peace, and hope within me that can, with all intents and purposes, extinguish it.”
In Support of a Cause
“A citizen should take significant small steps to understand each other’s burdens. By removing just one stone from another’s shoulders will enable them to make great strides to do the same.”
My Website’s Subliminal Message
“Oralart makes the simple, important.”
Vertically Challenged
Do you know what I can’t stand?
What can’t you stand?
That’s what I can’t stand.
You can’t stand what?
That I can’t stand.
What?!
I can’t stand! I can’t stand!
If you don’t explain, I am walking away.
You do know, I can’t stand?
I’m standing now and going to walk away if you can’t explain what’s up.
Obviously, not me but you can still stand it.
Don’t tell me what I can stand and not stand.
You can do both, but I can’t.
I can’t stand this; I’m leaving now.
Yes, you can, and you can’t stand it.
I’ll see you later.
Now, that’s something I can stand doing!
Vital Statistics
“I have His: phone number, fax, email, website, and street address. He’s next door, right around the block, just across the street, a stone’s throw away, a short hike, or you can even take a rocket ship to the moon and still be within an arm’s length, the diameter of the teardrop, the volume of the breath, a thread of the heartbeat, a synapse of the first waking moments, He can still be found, regardless if you’re lost, just call upon Him, and He will answer.
No long-distance charges will apply.”
Taking Captive My Thoughts
“The garbage piled up high up against the chain-link fence of pristine property, I was hoping to gain access to in the years to come. However, climatic changes were against me such as wind and rain, but I guess it was ultimately my responsibility to tend to the pile daily and diligently to remove the debris to dispose of it responsibly. Where this garbage comes from can be beyond me but once it is trapped up against the fence, either on myself or the Constant Gardener’s on the other side, can pluck it up nimbly and destroy it as quickly and effortlessly as a whisper lovingly spoken in the middle of the night.”
He stilled the storm to a whisper;
Psalm 107:29
Finally…
“This is the type of writing that will be making me millions! I am praying to God that I can find a person who knows a person who knows a friend whose father’s brother-in-law, who lives next to a family of five, who just lost their beloved and very old pet dog, who knows the veterinarian, who euthanized Sparky (finally) who knows a publisher, who brings in his one-legged macaw, irritably named, Mac, to get his wings clipped. What are the chances? I’ll stick with the first two people and the friend and the rest of the prayer will have to play itself out.”
Black is not a color. As an artist it’s only a pigment of my imagination. As a person with obvious physical limitations, black signifies darkness which can overwhelm me at any time. By God’s grace, I have brilliant lights of joy, peace and hope within me that can, with all intents and purposes, extinguish it.
In the next season, while experimenting with some techniques, I took the leftover paint on my palate and haphazardly painted a dark winter sky, a mauve Christmas tree sitting beside a snow-covered fence, and the Christmas star in the upper right-hand corner. I named the piece “Midnight Clear” and made Christmas cards..this creation is still everyone#s favorite, a decade later.
I was commissioned to paint, “Midmorning Train” by a group who wanted to give a thank you gift to the Calgary City Council for approving the Low Income Bus Pass Program. This picture seems to make an emotional impact on people, because it invokes fond memories, past and present, of riding the C-train when they were young or new to Calgary.