Wind Dancer

 

This picture is full of the colourful, bold and exuberant joy that the abandon to the creative spark in us brings - the dance being one of the many, many ways this spark is fanned into a flame. I chose the title Wind Dancer because the wind will go where it will and even a gentle breeze can be strong and compelling fanning the smallest spark into a bright flame. It is the ever changing flow, the freshness, the unpredictability and even audacity that fascinates me.

Looking at the finished work I discovered, much to my surprise, that strongly reminds me of a friend of mine. It's really that I have seen and experienced in her a lot of what this picture expresses. Sarah - this is for you!

You make Your messengers like the winds;

the breeze whispers Your words,

Your servants are like the fire and flame. 

Psalms 104:4

The Voice

He was dancing before the Lord with all his strength.

2. Samuel 6:14 NLV

Song of the Bride

This is one of my rare digital media works. It is based on my earlier Soft Pastel drawing 'Torch Bringer'. The special effects have been achieved with GIMP which I find to be a brilliant tool and great fun to work with. 

This image is based on a close up of the bride as she is found in the original picture. It seeks to give a stronger expression to the flow of her longing. As she draws closer to her bridegroom something new and fresh springs from the depth of her being like a new song - the song of the bride.

Deep calls to deep at the sound of Your waterfalls;

All Your breakers and Your waves have rolled over me.

 The Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime;

And His song will be with me in the night,

A prayer to the God of my life. 

Psalms 42:6,7 NASV

Season of Change

There is this feeling of change in the air, a change of colours and a change of the light. Its an early autumn, so they say.  So I set out to catch this season of change.

The picture you see here - Feather Fall - is based on the special flavour of the Quantock Hills area in Somerset, its unusual colours and beautiful rolling hills. 

One of the things that have come to my mind as I worked on this picture is that change sometimes happens like the fall of a feather - as light and soft - but come it will. And it comes with all the challenges and opportunities that changes bring. With the falling feather the expression of the drawing transitioned. What had been an idyllic landscape displaying summer turning to fall developed a different dynamic. It now holds the movement of the feather in time - the unfolding change. 

During the flow of my work the appearance of the falling feather brought a sense of expectancy to me. The promise that there is the One who will walk by my side through all the seasons of my live, through all the changes. In the flow of change there is one safe haven - knowing Him - Jesus.

To all things there is an appointed time, and a time to every purpose under the heaven. 

Ecclesiastes 3:1, GNV

He will cover you with his hand and 
under his wings you will find refuge.
His Truth is your shield and armour.

Psalm 91:4, GW 

~ Feather Fall - detail ~

Giving Life

~ Giving Life ~

This is the latest drawing in my current series. Very similar to the 'Woman at the Well', which I have done some time ago, I have tried to capture in this picture the lasting transformation that a spiritual encounter brings. With this drawing I carry this theme further to illustrate the changes in our personal world when the divine invades the ordinary. The dry places, the wilderness - and that may well be the wilderness of our hearts - are changed into a landscape full of signs of a living hope and wonder at the simple beauty of God's creation. The title ~ Giving Life ~ seeks to express the perpetual flow of life first received as the true fountain of life from Jesus - the true life. It also points to the overflowing abundance of the divine gift which transforms all that it touches. 

The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.

 Revelation 22:17 NIV

O Lord, You have searched me and known me.

You have enclosed me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me.

Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?

If I take the wings of the dawn, if I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,

Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me.

For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother's womb.

I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well.

From Psalm 139, NASB

Cloud by Day

~ Cloud by Day ~

Today I bring my most recent piece to you. It is done in a rather different style than my usual one. I have been experimenting with the technique of dusting which I used in particular for the clouds and the flame, but
also for some parts of the ground. I am really excited with the result and will add this technique to my toolbox for future use. 

The picture shows the path of searching in a  place of dryness and aridity - a desert. However, there is a way through - even though only faintly visible - and  the presence of a guiding light. There are also the clouds above with the promise of rain bringing fruitfulness and some glimmers of green throughout the dry land as little glimpses of hope. The title Cloud by Day resonates with this wandering through the desert. A place that always reminds me of God's faithfulness, even and especially in  difficult times.

~For the LORD your God has blessed you in all that you have done; He has known your wanderings through this great wilderness. These forty years the LORD your God has been with you; you have not lacked a thing.~

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Deuteronomy 2:7 NASV

~You have taken account of my wanderings; Put my tears in Your bottle. Are they not in Your book?~

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Psalms 56:8 NASV



by Charis Gabriel

Celebrating Life

This picture just got ready in time for my Mum's birthday. I have been trying to express a 'thank you' for what she has done for me as I grew up and through the years since. It is also a thank you to the Great Live Giver for all that he gave us in and through our mother-daughter relationship. 

~ Jar of Clay ~

"But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us."

2.Cor 4:7

The second picture I am posting today has been finished about a year ago, it's about time to be introduced! 
I tried to captivate the joy, excitement and unpredictability that all come with a new beginning, as well as trying to express the dynamic motion needed to keep in balance while allowing the new to invade the well known and comfortable place of the present. The symbol is that of a spontaneous and intuitive dance.

~ The Dance ~

Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting:

The Soul that rises with us, our life's Star, 

 hath had elsewhere its setting, and cometh from afar: 

Not in entire forgetfulness and not in utter nakedness, 

but trailing clouds of glory do we come 

from God, who is our home. 

William Wordsworth

Arrival of the "Seed of Hope"

~ Seed of Hope ~

Here is finally the "Seed of Hope". The drawing speaks of those dreams in our hearts that take a long journey before they come to fruition. As with my last drawing I am writing out some more of my thoughts. I will publish them on a separate page in a few days time. You will find the link in the side bar on the right.

The journey of Brendan the Navigator was very much on my mind during the time I worked on this drawing.
Brendan the Navigator was an Irish monk born around the end of the 5th century. He and his Brothers travelled the high seas of the Atlantic in a tiny coracle, evangelizing the islands, and possibly reaching the Americas in the 6th century. His story is full of faith and hope, wonderfully imaginative and full of all sorts of fantastic miracles. His journey bore rich fruit.

by Charis Gabriel