Getting Lost painting

.:.

The last several days I've been painting at Callaway Gardens with my painting friends some of which have been spending the night at my house. It's been fun to be around them and hear laughter at all the tall tales and hear about plein air adventures from everyone. We've done lots of painting but more than that we have been able to share our visions of how we want to grow into our art in more ways than one.

I'm reminded that God is always doing a new work in us. I think because we are made in his image, we are always trying to do the same. It doesn't matter that we or others don't see we are growing and changing, God sees. Our work as artists changes as we grow, and so do our hearts. God says in Isaiah 43:19, Behold I am doing a new thing. Can you not perceive it? This means we don't have to wait for change; he is changing us every minute we live.

I was reading in the International Artist magazine this morning a thought from Harley Brown and he was talking about how artists sometimes hide in their art. I think this is true for lots of us even those that aren't artist types. We can get lost in our art, or sometimes get lost with other things we do just to escape from life. In getting lost with making art we can cover up or redo the mistakes we make, but it's harder to do in real life. The mistakes we make in real life can come back to haunt us over and over again. Because I am a Christian, I know that my mistakes in life are forgiven as I have asked for forgiveness, but the haunting continues because I remember them or others remind me of my imperfections. This is when I take a deep breath and thank God for his presence in my life. I'm thankful that we don't have to live in the past, that we can go forward. I thank God that He has plans for me and everyone. I thank God that I can claim that knowledge and be comforted by His words that He is always with us and will never leave us.