Lovely at the End of the Lane

Many of you know that I love to walk. Prior to my illness and surgery, I walked several times a week, 3-5 miles in and around my neighborhood. The first day I was home from the hospital, the outdoors called to me. But I was only able to make it to the stop sign at the corner of our property.

But each day I would try to walk a bit further. Hunched over and shuffling, I just didn’t care how feeble I looked. I took my husband or a friend with me, and breathed in the fresh air, drank in the lingering spring, enjoying moving my legs.

The last two days, I have ventured up to Silver Dapple Lane. My favorite lane in the whole world. My neighbor and I have gone down and back twice. And today, I even made it three times! Progress indeed! The lane is lined with wildflowers, especially over in Mr. Whicker’s field. At the end of the lane is the best view ever! One of Mr. Whicker’s pastures for his cows is burgeoning with buttercups! It looks positively dreamy!

So I came home today and tried to capture that dreamy field on paper with watercolor. I don’t know that I got it exactly…but it’s enough to remind me of this morning…a gift to start my day.

 

Not Enough Daffodils

Before I landed in the hospital, colitis had progressed to where my everyday life was pretty miserable. I was rapidly losing strength and weight, due to 15-20 visits to the bathroom a day. I couldn’t go anywhere. And I couldn’t find the energy to do even the simplest of things, like make dinner for my family.

Several women in our church, sweet friends of mine, made a meal for my family. It was such a huge blessing to have dinner provided and not have to muster the energy to make it.  I got it in my head one day, that I wanted to do something to thank them for their generosity.

A favorite blog of mine is Attic 24, whose author Lucy, is all about crochet! She had just posted a tutorial to make a wonderful crocheted daffodil. Though she was using the daffodils for a wreath, she also showed the pin option, and I knew this would be a fun gift for my friends who had made food for us.

You have to know, that all along the way, I kept thinking “I’m going to be better soon! I’m going to be better soon!” I had received the diagnosis, Ulcerative Colitis, and all the medications that were supposed to make me better.  I just wasn’t improving. But I held out hope. Making these little daffodil pins were part of that hope. In between runs to the bathroom, crocheting offered a distraction from how I was feeling, and gave me something to focus on. I could lounge in a chair and make something simple. Creativity is a wonderful gift when you’re sick.

When I had to go to the hospital for more potent meds to stop the colitis and to arrest my dehydration and lack of nutrition, the meals kept coming in for my family. It was so amazing. But I was unable to keep track of who all was bringing a meal OR to even make the daffodils. There comes a time when it becomes impossible to properly thank those who are selflessly giving of their time and lives to help.  This is all part of the lavish grace of God…you can’t repay it, you can’t thank Him enough for it, and will never be able to give thanks in equal measure to the outpouring of mercy you have received.

I am a recipient of grace and mercy.  Lavish, generous, overwhelming grace for which there is nothing to do but to cheerfully receive with gratitude!

A Flower Strewn Path

 

I’m home! I have a long way to go recuperating from surgery, but I’m home and it is lovely to be here with my family and the comforts of home. There is a lot I could say about the last couple of months. But it is still forming in my mind and heart and feels too raw and dear to put out there in a blog. I have no idea whether I will ever write here about this experience, this lenten journey I’ve been on. In so many amazing ways, I was indeed led to a quiet place. Not one I would have chosen myself. And I do feel I am still on this path.

The beautiful thing about this path is that it has been strewn with flowers! And cards! The above watercolor I made prior to landing in the hospital. My husband, Randy, brought home a bunch of gorgeous flowers for me. I can remember during those hideous days of nearly 24/7 living in a bathroom, that the few moments I had to draw or paint were such a welcome diversion. Once in the hospital, where I stayed for three weeks, the flowers were lavishly sent…tulips, azaleas, dahlias, carnations, roses, mixed bouquets, etc. And the cards…wow, the cards! They are still coming! I love looking at and reading each one. The thoughts and sentiments behind each bouquet and each card overwhelm me, in a good way. The outpouring of concern and care has been staggering. Randy and I are so very grateful.

I only wish that I could’ve made a little painting of each and every bouquet. I do have some pen sketches in my writing journal that I made in the early days at the hospital when they were trying to arrest the Ulcerative Colitis by different medications, none of which my body seemed to respond to. The flowers kept coming in even after surgery and the second surgery. The beautiful azalea is now planted in our front yard, and I look forward to it blooming every year.

One of the things I long to hang onto from all of this, is a slower pace in life. To that end, I will not be blogging as often as I used to. I’m considering combining my three blogs into one, and continuing Letters to An Artist on an “as I can” basis. When you’re given a new lease on life, it is only natural to rethink how you’ve been living and make a few changes. I hope, dear reader, that you will continue to check in with me here on Drawn2Life. There is so much Beauty to share with you. And as always, I hope you’ll join me in looking for and creating a bit of beauty in your own life.

A grand THANK YOU to all of you who have sent healing thoughts, prayed for me, wished me well over the last month. I am truly grateful for each of you.

A Garden of Hope

I spent a couple of hours working in the Garden this week!

In December, you say?? Yes. This is a year-round Garden.

A unique garden whose rows and vines are shelving structures.

The food “grows” on these shelves and then gets harvested and bailed into bags

to be given to school children in Guilford and Forsyth counties.

Please read more about this amazing Garden here!

I’ve written about the Out of the Garden Project before, which you can read about here. I really do love the mission

that Don and Kristy Milholin have planted.  (Don pictured above)

The growth of the Garden is astronomical: they now serve over 900 children and their families in over 50 schools.

 That’s 900+ bags of food EVERY WEEK OF THE SCHOOL YEAR!

As you can see from my photos, the shelves are quite bare. A Winter Garden to be sure.

But this Garden needs to be producing all year round and especially so at the holidays!!

There are many ways you can help:

If you’re local, you can give canned food and/or volunteer to pack and deliver bags!

If you live anywhere, you can donate money! And this is the best part of it: For every $5 you give, you receive an Honor Card (the little painting is by yours truly.  This makes a wonderful gift to give on someone’s behalf.  The back of the card has a space for you to write the name of the person in whose honor you have donated to OOTGP.

No matter where you live in this wide world of ours, consider giving in some way to those less fortunate than you.

In so doing you will bring hope to the children of the Garden!

Trumpet Call Announcement!

Hear Ye! Hear Ye!

An Art Show to help a Garden Grow!

Thursday, November 29th 4-8 pm

Featuring Artists from the Triad area

(one of whom is ME!)

Put it on your calendar to come enjoy wine, hors d’oeuvres and music while browsing fine art & craft for your holiday shopping! Entrance cost is $10, and a portion of anything purchased goes to continuing the growth of our Ciener Botanical Gardens!

It has been a loooonnnngg time since I’ve done something like this and I’m soooo excited! I do hope to meet many of you at this lovely event! I will be featuring my drawings and paintings of downtown Kernersville, as well as offering Genevieve Cards and Prints.

This is a one evening event! Please come by and say hello!

For your invitation and ALL the details of this event, click below!

Small Works of Nature

**Several of my works created on location at the Gardens and downtown Kernersville area will be displayed and offered for sale!  The above drawing of Angel Trumpets was created while sitting at the Ciener Botanical Gardens drawing and enjoying the flowering purple basil next to it!

Give and You will Receive!

As a special thank you to ALL who have already given and to any who might wish to make a donation to Maddie’s Mission to Cure Diabetes…I will give you a Genevieve Print of your choice!!

Just click on the highlighted words Maddie’s Mission to Cure Diabetes and for any $15 donation or greater, I will send you one of the above Prints of Genevieve (value $12) to thank you!!  You choose which one you want!

This offer closes on Saturday, October 27th, 2012…the day we Walk!!

Check this Out!

Pop Next Door to read about the latest with Genevieve!

What I Have to Give

When the basket passes by, I often wish I could give something other than money.  Not that I always have that to give.  We’ve been taught that, MORE than our money, God wants our Hearts.  So I often imagine my own little self inside that basket, being whisked away for use in His Kingdom.

I don’t often talk about my faith straight on, here on this blog. This is purposeful, since I really want folks from all walks of life to find something here that encourages them, either in life, or in drawing, or both maybe.  But I think it is universal to artists of all kinds to want to give in some way through their art, no matter what their faith background.

About fifteen years ago, I ravenously read through, studied, highlighted, underlined, absorbed, mulled over, ingested, and rejoiced in Julia Cameron’s book, The Artist’s Way.  The above affirmation was enlightening to me, for I had never really thought that my creativity could be a gift back to God, in gratitude for all that He has given me.  You can find her 10 Basic Principles, of which the above is number 5, on page 3 of her book.

In a very real sense, this blog is the basket in which I place my drawings/paintings/writings and other various creative ventures.  It is a very small way of putting my heart ALL IN with gratitude.

It is, quite literally, what I have to give, along with all the rest of who I am.

Drawn2Zine!

A Zine…what is such a thing? From Wikipedia here’s a definition:

“A zine ( /ˈziːn/ ZEEN; an abbreviation of fanzine, or magazine) is most commonly a small circulation publication of original or appropriated texts and images. More broadly, the term encompasses any self-published work of minority interest usually reproduced via photocopier.

A popular definition includes that circulation must be 5,000 or less, although in practice the significant majority are produced in editions of less than 1,000, and profit is not the primary intent of publication.”

The only Zines I had seen (hm, no rhyme intended:) were those of Andrea Joseph and Dan Price.  I own two of Andrea’s Zines and they are terrific!!! You should treat yourself sometime to one of her zines…her mad drawing skills will delight you to no end!  Though I do not own one of his zines, I have read one of his books, How to Make a Journal of your Life, and can imagine the zines being just as wonderful.

I have no idea why Andrea or Dan create Zines, but I just thought it would be fun!  Fun to create, fun to offer, fun to see a bit of my blog stuff in a little booklet.  I thought my kids might like them one day to add to all the paintings and sketchbooks they will eventually have dumped on them!

But the other reason, was just for myself.  When I started this blog, I really didn’t know the specific direction it would go.  I just wanted to share drawings, paintings and other things I like to do creatively.  Now that a few years have gone by, I am able to see some overarching themes that pop up fairly often.  A Zine was the perfect way to highlight just one aspect of what gets covered here in Drawn2Life and in my other blogs.  So there are plans for more Zines on different topics, of course with artwork!

Thank you to those of you who have ordered one of my Zines thus far! You’ve really made my day! And that’s the icing on the cake: when something that I enjoy, is in turn enjoyed by others.  I know there are many of you who enjoy visiting my blog…and I am so grateful for each of your visits! Drawn2Life is getting close to having 100 followers! Can you believe that?  When it hits 100 followers, I plan on having a little giveaway! No, maybe a BIG giveaway of several goodies made by me!  Keep popping by to see when that will happen so you can add your name in the hat!  If you’d like to subscribe to my blog, please do so! It’s always free!!!

Baby Step #10: A Zine of My Own

Oh my goodness, I am just tickled pink to offer this little booklet to you! It’s my first “zine” which I’m calling an Art Zine since it’s a compilation of my drawings, paintings, and writings, some of which is from my blogs, Drawn2Life and Drawn2Be! and some of which has never been seen on either blog.

I’ve titled this Zine: Thoughts on Drawing & Life.  Here are some of the topics you will read about:
*Why do I draw?
*My favorite ways to draw.
*Why I draw the way I do.
*How drawing speaks to my everyday life.
*Things I learn from the act of drawing.
*A poem about Drawing.

And, of course, each topic is “illustrated” by sketches, drawings, and paintings by Jennifer Edwards (me:). All totalled, there are 20 images of these drawings, paintings, etc. with a couple of “excerpts” from other artwork.

The Zine has 20 pages, printed professionally on Premium paper. The Zine measures 8 1/2″ x 5 1/2″.

If you’d like one, you can order it through my Etsy shop, and I’ll send it to you in a 3-ring page protector. This ensures against any water damage AND will allow you to add my future Zines to your collection in a mini-3-ring-binder. I will then place it in a cardboard mailer to ensure further protection from bending.

I’m also signing and numbering each Zine!

**AND..for the first 10 of you who order a Zine, I will include a Genevieve bookmark and a small piece of Origami, folded by me:)!

I really do hope you will enjoy this…they would also make a lovely gift to someone.

***To THOSE OF YOU WHO LIVE NEAR ME, please send me a message either in the comment here, or through Etsy, or just call me if you’d like to pick it up from me.  No need to pay the shipping and handling costs if we see each other on a regular basis!!

****MY NEXT POST:  Why I’m Drawn2Zine!  Y’all come back now, ya here?