Ponder Away

I've been really busy, and when I'm busy, writing is the last thing on my mind...
So, let's ponder together, what have I been doing?

Working
I work a lot right now, it's part of that growing up and making sure you have gas in the car thing. I like my work, I think it's fun...but it's tedious. It's hard. But there are people out there begging for jobs, so I'm thankful. I'm well-liked, I do my job well, work isn't all that hard. It leaves my afternoons free, which makes me very happy. Which leads me to what else I've been doing...

Dancing
I'd forgotten how much I just like to dance! And for the record, I'm not a dancer, I'm not good at it, I don't do it all that well, and most of the time I look like a five-year-old who is who is stomping around with their hands in the air. But when I have my iPod on, with my one playlist with all me "dance" music, I just feel good. And I love to just feel good. I don't care who sees me, I don't care what they think, in fact, I think people should dance more.

Here are song of my favoriete songs to dance to:
I'm not Your Boyfriend, 3OH!3
I'm Feeling Good, Micheal Buble
The Way You Make Me Feel, Micheal Jackson
Cottan Eyed Joe and the Cha Cha Slide and the Electric Slide
Untouched, The Veronicas
Stop and Stare, Say, & All the Right Moves, OneRepublic
Dance Dance, Fall Out Boy
Shake It, Metro Station
Super Massive Black Hole, Muse
Just Dance, Lay Gaga

And those are just a few. :)

I would encourage everyone to dance, someway, somehow, somewhere. Just go. Stop being worried about who will see you and what they will say. Dancing has helped me a lot...it was good for me. Try it. See what happens.

Painting
I'm always painting something. A good friend of mine recently gave me an eisle, a huge one. One that stands up! I don't have to sit on my floor to paint anymore! What's even more exciting is that it colaspes and I can take it with me when I go out into the woods! I can go paint in the woods! I'm very excited about this, I really am. Anywho...:) I'm working on three paintings, currently, all about the things that I do in the morning, and three things that I love dearly, when I have them finished, I'll be sure to show everyone. :)

Dreaming
Literally. I have been having the craziest dreams, night after night. For the most par they've been fairly funny, and I wake up laughing. But last night, it was different. It was vivid and it was about my Daddy and it was about something that I used to do...and it as sad. Really sad. I hope I stop dreaming for a little while after this...I'm not sure I could handle another one like it.

That's about it! Thanks for tuning in and keep on the look out for more from the brain of Maddie!

Matthew 6:26 and Psalm 8:3&4

This painting started this weekend, when I met God in a room full of people who were worshiping Him. He told me, You need to stop worrying, and stop fearing this. This is what I want from you, this is what I'm asking. Trust me with it. Other people were on their feet, hands lifted worshipping him. I was hunddled in my chair, sobbing over the love of God. There are things I am worried about, there are things that He is asking me to do that I don't want to do. And I still didn't want to listen. I said, "God, you've gotta give me some sort of sign here or something, confirm this, please!" He did. I know, exactly, what it is He wants me to do, granted, I really don't want to do it. That day, our church sat out on some grass and ate lunch. I laid back and realized how beautiful the leaves were and took pictures. Today I painted those leaves...but...something was missing. A purple bird came to mind, so I painted it. And then I realized. "Why do you worry about things? Don't I take care of you? See the birds, see them, do they worry? Do they freak out? No. No they don't, and I still take care of them. I feed them! And they're just birds, something I put on this Earth for you to enjoy! Don't you know you are much more valuable than they are?" [based off Matthew 6:26, paraphrased]

Now I have a painting commemorating what He has spoken to me.




This painting...ohhh this painting. I had this canvas for months, and I had NO IDEA what to do with it. And then finally, FINALLY, I get this idea, and I start playing with the leaves and the purple...but once again, something was just missing. While this was going on, a good friend of mine had a baby and I was pirviledged enough to see the birth of my god-child, Juilet. On my way out of the hospital, something on the ground caught my eye. It was a butterfly. I took a picture, came home, and translated it to this painting. I added the verse, because God has made all these intricate things. Butterflies, platypus, trees, flowers, giraffs...He is SO creative, and yet...He loves us. Amazing, don't you think?

I did. Now I have a painting on my wall to commemorate God's creativity.

Art Talk

Have you ever met a like minded friend? One you can talk to about the things in life you are most passionate and fondest of? Introduce me to someone who loves Art and loves God and we can be instant friends.

I made an istant friend. And she and I went out together today. There was Micheals, where I bought some primary paint. In that store we stayed and talked and walked and giggled and shared ideas and talked about things we wanted to do, and projects we had seen, what we liked what we didn't like. We discussed our favorite artists, brushes, paints, styles, everything. And then...we headed down the sidewalk to Borders. All the books filled our heads, and we stayed and talked for some time. There were journals that we talked of filling, books we talked of reading, and movies we talked about liking. We sat in the floor and discussed the Bible, the chronological Bible, and the Canon, and ESV (English Standard Version). We shared books that we liked, and that we didn't like. I told her about Francince Rivers and Frank Perreti. She told me about a few books that I haven't read, that I NEED to read. Keep in mind, this all started around 2 this afternoon. We thought it was about 4, maybe 3:30, at the latest. We looked at the clock. 4:00 had come and gone and we were going on 5:00. When great minds get together, time means nothing.

It's been a while since I could just GO and talk about things I loved with someone. I feel like I made a valuable friendship today, and now I have someone to talk to. Someone who understands, and gets excited about the same things I get excited about. Someone who loves God passionatly and whole heartedly, and who shares my immense and scary love for Art.

I'm exhausted. But I feel so blessed today, that I just wanted to share that with everyone. :)

Creativity, Day.13

The Saturated Palette: Ten for Creativity Day.13

Pictures that inspire me? I could go on and on and on about things that inspire me, I like pictures, I like pictures alot. Let me take a gander at whats out there, and come back to you!







So these are the pictures that I found, that inspire me, and I can tell you why.

The first two are pictures from Skyline Drive, which...let me tell you, I could spend days there. Days. I love the way it looks, how peaceful it all is...it's one of the places that I truly love in Front Royal and thats saying alot

The last two are pictures of people who are simply worshiping God, which corresponds to some paintings that I've been working. The concept of Jubilee, and letting go of yourself to worship the God and Creator...well that makes me happy.


Follow the link at the top of hte page and take ten for creativity! Support the arts in your own life, and don't forget that you can take two seconds to simply be CREATIVE. :)

-Maddie