Archives for October 2007

So a little over three weeks ago I posted about trying to collect coats for two elementary schools and the Crisis Pregnancy Center in Hendersonville. Last Sunday was the final day to turn in any coats and I just wanted to thank everyone who donated. I set a goal of 100 coats and came close. We ended up collecting 68 coats. Not too bad. Josh reminded me in my moment of, “That’s not 100” that 68 kids will have coats this winter who might not have had a coat. So I’m okay with 68. Again THANKS to everyone who helped out. Also get ready because I will soon be asking for help for Operation Christmas Child.

Keep a look out.

I just wanted to post a recent ladybug I painted.  It is a 24×24 acrylic on canvas.  A group of friends ordered this painting as a baby gift for a mutual friend of theirs.  I thought that was a very sweet idea.  I’m sure the mother-to-be will treasure it.

First of all, what is it about throwing all your emotions and thoughts, good or bad, out there in words on the Internet, that people find appealing? It always seems so strange to me and yet, I’m here before you doing the same. My sister-in-law Kim recently sent me a blog of a women named Boothe Farley that recently lost her 8-day-old daughter, Copeland, to a disease called Trisomy-18. The family found out Copeland had the disease during the pregnancy and were told that she would not live long after birth. Boothe’s blog is a document of how the family dealt with the tragic news from the point when they found out to current time. I started reading the blog one night and just read a few posts because it was just so heartbreaking and now as a mother myself, I could not fight the flood of tears. I went to bed, only to find myself with a sleepless night, so of course I got up and read Boothe’s entire blog from start to finish, finally heading to bed around 3:30am. It was amazing how God was using this family and the words He has given Boothe and her husband Conor to place on their blog. The comments alone were unreal, one post having 650 comments alone. It was great to read Boothe’s words and her raw honesty about loosing her daughter and her feelings towards God. On her most recent post Boothe wrote this,

“So am I mad? Sometimes. If God didn’t ordain Copeland’s sickness, if it wasn’t His design, why in the world did she have it? Because I live here. It’s like asking why I have a Southern accent. It comes free, courtesy of my locale. She wasn’t sick because I needed to learn a lesson. She wasn’t sick because I didn’t do enough things right – or too many things wrong. She was sick because we live in a broken, fallen world and until Jesus comes back, things are just going to keep going wrong. Not all the time – that’s when the glimpses of Heaven come in.”

I found these words so perfect. Recently my heart has been very heavy due to many things, like Copeland’s story for one and we recently found out that a good friend of our family, Kevin Hamilton, who also delivered Harper, has cancer. He is just such a wonderful, godly man who God has used for so much good. We are praying healing and favor for Kevin, his wife Christy and their two children, Hunter and Lady. God has also placed a dear friend of mine, Ashley Frost, on my heart. She lost her boyfriend, Frank Shaffer, not long ago to a cancer called sarcoma. Frank was only 26. I know she is still healing and I think and pray for her often. I just can’t imagine, how these people feel and I won’t insult them by even trying. All I know is that we do live in such a temporary place, and though it’s easy to forget this is not our “home” its so hard to deal with what life throws us due to relationships we so naturally form, long for and need. Recently I read this scripture, “…for I am the Lord who heals you.” Exodus 15:26. I love this verse, so simple and so true. Not only can He heal diseases and hearts burdened by heavy grief, but everyday bumps and bruises life hands us.

I painted this after reading the verse the other day. It was a gift for Ashley.

This post doesn’t have anything to do with art, but I really wanted to post about this. Our church, Community Church in Hendersonville, is collecting coats for two low poverty elementary schools and the Crisis Pregnancy Center in Hendersonville. They are wanting new or gently used size 5T to 12 coats. I have set a goal to collect 1oo coats and would greatly appreciate your help. All the coats are due October 14th, so 100 coats in 2 week, I think it can be done. If you would like to help out in any way it would be greatly appreciated. I think this would be great to do as a family outing and what a great opportunity to share with your children. We are taking Harper coat shopping! Thanks for all the help, I know God will bless and show favor on your helping hands.

I have received quite a few orders since Pitter Patter began and wanted to post some recent commissioned work. The following pieces are very customized and I worked closely with the customers making sure they got exactly what they were wanting. If you see something you like, keep in mind I can do the same for you.

I was excited to work on this piece because soon I will have a new nephew named Jack. This gave me some practice for his letter. The paper used is very popular with boy letters I have done. It is a very rustic color scheme and comes in several patterns. I also like the multiple ribbons and extra clip for two pictures instead of one. The extra picture was important to this customer.

For this bow holder the customer wanted the little girls initials monogram style. So I painted the G in the middle and larger. I also added ribbon at the top to hang it by.

For this piece a mother wanted something very special for her daughter’s first birthday. She wanted several different elements like the child’s name, a verse, flowers and bugs. It took some brainstorming, but I was pleased with the final product and so was the customer.

This first picture is not my work. A mother received the plaque for her first sons baptism. Well when her second son was going to baptized she wanted him to have the same plaque. She commissioned me to make the similar piece. The original was done on a piece of wood and the replica is on a 12×12 canvas.

ORIGINAL

REPLICA