Aspiring to Be More Than a "Hobby" Painter

I think I mentioned earlier this fall that I was taking my painting class again.
My motivation, focus, and some inspiration I think has come from spending the past year looking at and talking about the art in the North Carolina Museum of Art.
Being a docent is a wonderful experience, but it left me empty, and hungry to paint. It has been a real force in making me once again try to be courageous to paint seriously.

I have had some of the best hours painting that I can remember and find myself staying late after class because I can't tear myself away. It is almost painful to have to clean up and know I have to wait a whole week before I get to paint again.

I have described the experience of painting/creating -- when you're in the "high" of it, it is like communing with God. I know, that sounds over the top, but think about a runner's high. When you're in the "zone" --- its a time when I think God connects some of the deepest parts of my heart and spirit and mind.

Last week, I was scanning Craigslist for a used easel with no success, but came across an ad for a "Studio Roommate." So I checked it out and its not only affordable, its 10 minutes from our house in downtown Raleigh. Known as the "Carter Building" it is a space specifically for artist studios in Raleigh. This is PRIME real estate and these studios get LOTS of public traffic during First Fridays each month.

The other artist I will be sharing the space with is in her mid-twenties to early 30's(??). I hope to move in this weekend and start to spend some significant time there after our trip to Guatemala. My hope is to be there 3 times a week at least.

What an amazing blessing from God out of no where! Danny's excitement and encouragement has also given me the courage to further pursue all this.

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This is a piece I started a couple of years ago and in fact, posted the beginnings of it in a post. Click here to see.

Here is the finished painting: "Three Graces: Yellow"

What Happens When the Gardners Descend.....

Labor Day weekend was a full weekend as the Gardners, YES all 6 of them came for their first full family visit! In the past, its only been a couple of Gardners here, a lone Gardner there, but this time it was the entire village. It was a full weekend that was filled with the start of college football season, "guy" time, "chick" time, wear-out-Jasper-time, and culminated with birthday festivities for Bear, who turned double digits, 10 on Sunday.

Stuart, Zoe, Danny and I met met up with Bill and Sue in Chapel Hill for the UNC vs. JMU game. You did not have to be there to know what the outcome was going to be. It was most convenient for me as I wore my JMU t-shirt and my Carolina hat and earrings and purse! The weather was nice but HOT in the sun and even Lauren was able to join us near the end of the game. UNC kicked some Duke dog butt with a final score of 42-10. The worst part was when JMU finally made a touch down and the cheerleaders ran around the stadium with the flags to celebrate. Each flag had a letter: "J"  "M"  "U"
Problem was the cheerleaders got mixed up or didn't know how to spell and ran around the stadium in spelling "JUM" ...... The Carolina fans had a field day with that one!

The rest of the weekend Zoe and I joked about how we couldn't do this or that because we graduated from "JUM." Oh dear. I have higher hopes for UVa when they visit in a couple of weeks.....

Sunday we met up with Lauren for church in Durham so the Gardner kids could see her for a wee bit.
After lunch the men all went to get snow cones (flavors to include 'grenade' and 'dill pickle' and 'sour tsunami') and play some putt-putt. The ladies headed to see the movie The Help which lives up to the hype, I recommend it.

We all met up again for birthday dinner for Bear at Five Guys. After that Bear wanted to play tennis with Uncle Danny so we all headed over to our neighborhood courts and played some sort of activity resembling the simplest forms of "tennis" :)  Jasper and the Gardner kids were all terrific ball boys.

I got some much needed best friend time during walks with Zoe and before we knew it, they all left the Dulins as quickly as they arrived. Monday I not only took a nap to recover, but went to bed by 8! Whew!

I have to say that the Gardner kids are truly some of my favorite kids to hang out with. They are all so different but each are eager to engage in a relationship with Aunt Jacqueline and Uncle Danny. Let's face it, having 4 kids in my townhouse could have been a stressful thing, but not with these kids. They are helpful, kind, respectful of our home, willing to serve others and always, always thankful. They aren't perfect kids, but they make being around kids FUN!

More Missions

As you already know, we are headed to Guatemala October 22-29 for our first missions trip together as the Dulins. We are also super excited because we were just connected and invited to go to Kenya in February for another missions trip. This one will be through our church here in Cary and its with the organization "Build The Village." They are having a soccer camp with an 1,800 Kenyans expected to participate. Needless to say, Danny Dulin did a soccer dance when he was invited to go. Perhaps I will be invited to hold a Fashion camp .....

Speaking of soccer, Danny has ordered and received 100 "Wordless Bible" soccer balls for our Guatemala trip. For those of you still interested in supporting our missions trip to Guatemala, there is still plenty of time! Since God has blessed Danny and I with the finances to fund our travel expenses, any support we raise goes directly to the dental/medical supplies and the Guatemalan partnering churches and people. So you are not funding the Dulins, you are giving directly to the Guatemalans we are serving. I pray that God leads you to much generousity.  THANK YOU to many of you who have already given!!

Here is where to write/send the checks to:
Barcroft Bible Church
c/o Andy Richardson
9401 Little River Turnpike
Fairfax, VA 22031

Memo line: "Guatemala Short-Term Missions"
Please do not write our name in the memo line.
So here's a fun fact about the trip for all of you old McLean Bible people out there. Brijet's oldest daughter Rachel will be going on this trip too. WEIRD, huh? Or actually, yikes! Feeling old! Its gonna be fun telling Brijet stories to Rachel. And yes, I've already gotten permission!