There was a man from Nazareth, Galilee and people were saying that he was a healer. There were even rumors that he could be one of God’s greatest prophets, a messiah so to speak.
Such words to describe a person, all based on a few stories from a few towns over but after a while - they became hard to ignore. Blind people seeing, the mute, the deaf, the lame, the bedridden. I didn’t know what to think, it was too good to believe. I, the unclean, issues of blood or 12 years now. Unable to leave my home. No more money for doctors who were confounded by my affliction.
So I began to search out as much information about this man as I could.
The information was hard to get as rumors got louder and seemingly more extraordinary every day. People were saying all kinds of things about him, he even angered the temple authorities - but people lives were being changed. I could even see the evidence. I knew of a terrible man only a few doors down from my home. No one went near him for fear of his temper, he’d come out of his house screaming and throwing rocks at people, children even…and then one day he was at my house with a basket of dried fruits, some bread and some wine. He wished me well and when I had inquired of him about the healer he wouldn’t stop talking of the man what had been done for him. The change in my neighbor’s demeanor was inspiring. There was a light about him now, his dark spirits had left him. He was happy, kind and thankful. It was at that point I knew that I had to find this healer.
Weeks passed and I kept my ears open to the chatter about where he possibly was and the things of God he was saying. As time grew on I almost became discouraged. Legally, I wasn’t allowed to be in public so I couldn’t venture from home for fear of the authorities and then one morning there was a very large crowd of people moving down the road in front of my house. I couldn’t see what or who the commotion was about until my neighbor came to the door and told me to hurry as the man of God was in town and that I should present myself to him.
At first, I was in fear to leave my home but my overwhelming desire grew because of the things I heard. My belief soared in those moments and only in faith I left my home.
The crowds were large, so large I could not see the man as they spoke his name “Jesus”. I pushed thru the people, I was moved to and fro as I made my way to the middle of the crowd. He was walking with a man who was leading him hurriedly in some direction. The crowd made it hard to move but I kept pressing forward. He was just behind me as I attempted to turn around and move his way. As the crowd moved, I moved. I couldn’t press thru them to get ahead of the man Jesus. I held out my hand and attempted to speak his name but in that instance when I was so close to the front of the crowd and so close to him, I lost my balance and I fell to the ground.
I realized that I needed to act quickly as I saw his feet pass by me and move away from my position. I didn’t know what to do at first and then I simply said: If I just touch the hem of his robe I would get my healing. In that instance, I knew.
I pressed forward on my hands and knees into the crowd. Every little opening of space I claimed it. I began to move quickly, quickly, quickly and as the edge of his coat fluttered by I reached to grab it - but only my fingertips brushed the hem. I barely felt it, and I don’t remember the few small moments after that. Everything changed. The crowd cleared around me and all I knew was that my body was different. Every pain I knew, every discomfort, every evidence of the fountain of blood was gone. In that moment I sat there looking at my fingertips. I was at peace for just a few moments until I heard: “Who touched me?”
“Who touched my clothes?”
And then: “Master, the crowd is all about you - how can you ask “who touched me?”” But again he looked around “Who touched me?”
It was in that moment that my heart sank. A voice beside my ear said “You guilty one, you stole something from the Lord.
If you hide - maybe he won’t notice you.”
Stories from my childhood surfaced quickly in my mind. Stories of people who tried to hide from God…but was this who He was? Was He God?”
I couldn’t bear to not confess, and I was afraid. So I fell before Him. As He saw me I became overwhelmed to tell Him. “It was me, I touched you.” and I began to confess quickly: “I’ve been bleeding for 12 years, I’ve spent all that I had on doctors, I heard of You and had to see You, I couldn’t get near to you - I reached for your robe and…and…. And then the voice beside me “You stole something from the Lord” was so loud I took a deep breath that I might utter my next words “Please forgive me.”
Then I looked up to meet His gaze and when I saw Him all I knew was love. Nothing else - just a love that could see straight thru me. My fear was gone, my disease was gone and the voice beside me crushed and utterly silent. Then He smiled. I sat there shaking not from fear - but from total freedom. I couldn’t help but to let out a small but quiet laugh - and He smiled even bigger - His arms now wide open. “Daughter, your faith has made you whole. Go in faith and be healed of your disease.”
He then turned abruptly, said to the man he was with “Fear not, only believe.” and as quickly as He had come, He was gone and the crowd with Him.
In the years since my healing, I realize that we shall all see Him again and it will be far more powerful than the first time. I eagerly await that day - but in the meantime, I have the joy of shedding my sorrows and my griefs for by faith I am now complete.
We moved two years ago from a 2,000 sq foot home into a small flat duplex.
I was not unhappy about it, we’ve spent time downsizing and I have found this to be very liberating. The only problem I had with the move was no roomy place to work, and with a number of larger canvases - it was quickly becoming an issue. So we had to come up with a solution.
When you put your heads together to come up with ideas you do some mental gymnastics to figure out the cost…like the cost of renting studio space and you’d think that with all of the empty storefronts and urban malls being ghost towns you could get a sweet deal on some expansive square footage. Ummm…no… Even if they give you $1 per square foot, and your minimum square footage is 1500, well do the math and that becomes more like a second mortgage than it does a used car payment.
It’s pricey, therefore, it’s impossible to do.
The only option was to look at the property we are on and as it happens we have plenty of room to move upwards. Simply knocking out the back wall of a bedroom opens us up to almost 500 square feet of new space complete with big happy windows (natural light - it’s where it’s at) and the option to install floors that can take the punishment of a sloppy artist and her insane 1 year old.
So it’s happening.
The bank was called, the master carpenters came over and there seems to be a road map. I can hardly imagine it at this point, and I think it will become real when sometime in January the first of the construction crew comes over to remove the roof on the back of the house.
Some of this is going to be fun, and some of it will be crazy.
Suffice it to say that I am glad the shop site is working as it should and there are inquiries to “The RainMaker” (no surprise there) and a recent commission for work is underway. It’s going to be a busy few months.
I’m looking forward.
I used to hate January in Ohio, but I’m starting to embrace it.
As I had stated before - there’s a serene silence in the snowfall and I again look forward to the quiet hush of the landscape….coupled with the sound of nail guns. It’s going to be a great new year.
It shouldn’t be a surprise that I spend a ton of time cruising art websites and it astounds me over and over again how inept artists are at building and maintaining sites that are attractive (myself included.) They should be nothing less than attractive, but sadly - most of them look like they are still stuck in the late 1990s! (#SoRetro, anyone?)
Here’s the problem: Building websites is hard work, even when you use such services as Squarespace and Wordpress. It’s not just the initial building out of the site, it is also the maintenance of the site as well and from my professional experience as a designer, I’m finding more and more that people really are not into spending a lot of time “clicking about” sites just for the enjoyment of looking at art. For artists, then - the standard website is not the answer, at all - ever.
What’s the option?
There are a number of possible options, but all of them seem to have a “poison pill” that makes them almost unworkable. You lose out on things like email list building, ability for people to contact you, or a place where people can buy via a shopping cart. All these are important so it’s tough to find an option that actually works for the artist without taking days and days out of your week in maintenance.
While sites like “Etsy” seem to be an option, I’m still trying to work out what is actually good about it, and I’m not yet convinced, so let’s put that aside for a moment.
So I looked at a lot of options and came up with a patched up solution - a bodge job, so to speak.
Tumblr, a blogging website that is easy to use quickly became my go to. Tumblr is largely a social site for Millennials to share their posts of Korean Boy bands and social justice warrior propaganda…but if you don’t care to build a following on this site, none of this crazy crap matters one iota to making your site look polished.
And there was one other thing: The Scroll Feature!
Yes, scrolling, it is the thing now, we don’t click nearly as much as we scroll and Ive decided that since everything I post, be it artworks, sayings, free verse or articles ALL of these can be seen on the top level of the site. Strategically posted items make for a beautiful front page and I am please to say is clean and well put together. I make up interior pages for the artwork so viewers have the option of learning more.
For a cost of $11, I bought a template and revamped my website into the mid-decade of twenty-teens.
Yet - all is not peachy keen in the world of Tumblr apparently….after looking about the internet to find information I needed for expanding the blog I noticed that MOST information on Tumblr is from 2013. Seriously? In the age of internet, that may as well be 20 years ago.
So now what?
More investigation brought me to this article: “The Future of Tumblr”and then I said to myself: “Well that just sucks” so now everything is back into limbo because the geniuses at Yahoo can’t figure out how to properly monetize their site.Go by way of Facebook monetization and it’s just really going to be a lousy, lousy place to be and don’t start me about the censorship thing that is ALSO taking over there - here we go again, YouTube, anyone??? So yes, I’m worried.
As of the writing of this, I’m still working on my Tumblr blog while attempting to find something that might work in the future if I need it.
What’s next, at this point. I couldn’t tell you, but it’s a damn good site for now. Finally.
I have, only on occasion, something important to say - so I don’t often say such things using a brush. My artwork is about the landscape; a simplified and flowing artifice of the shapes and structures that make up my impressions of it. I’m uniquely interested in textures and the play of both color and light that happens when they come together on the canvas. Beauty thru simplicity and form is what I desire to achieve.
annaxmalina
origamiaround
jacobvanloon
stormborns
andulkaphoto
baratheonpilled
germansingergirl
2087
turnnoffyourmind
dailybridgerton
kianamaiart