My teacher friend, Rachel, gave me this cup a couple years a go before we were real friends.
It was a "Thank You" gift she graciously gave for a mural I painted for her kindergartners.
It is my favorite cup to drink from in the mornings. At the time she didn't know me that well, but her choice of gift really captured my style in may ways. I love this cup. I'm kinda particular about me mugs. It may be silly, but it has been a post of mine before.
http://thelostsocklife.blogspot.com/2013/04/clouds-in-my-coffee-obsession-with.html
so.....
I love to look at the designs on this particular mug.
The love the colors, shapes, variety of emphasis and patterns.
The Cup of Inspiration
Prayer of Inspiration
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me bring love.
Where there is offense, let me bring pardon.
Where there is discord, let me bring union.
Where there is error, let me bring truth.
Where there is doubt, let me bring faith.
Where there is despair, let me bring hope.
Where there is darkness, let me bring your light.
Where there is sadness, let me bring joy.
O Master, let me not seek as much
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love,
for it is in giving that one receives,
it is in self-forgetting that one finds,
it is in pardoning that one is pardoned,
it is in dying that one is raised to eternal life.
Where there is hatred, let me bring love.
Where there is offense, let me bring pardon.
Where there is discord, let me bring union.
Where there is error, let me bring truth.
Where there is doubt, let me bring faith.
Where there is despair, let me bring hope.
Where there is darkness, let me bring your light.
Where there is sadness, let me bring joy.
O Master, let me not seek as much
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love,
for it is in giving that one receives,
it is in self-forgetting that one finds,
it is in pardoning that one is pardoned,
it is in dying that one is raised to eternal life.
My Color Pallette.
I used a painting that I had created before that I love.
My dad had gotten the framed painting from an auction along with many many more. He offered it to me to use however I wanted. I challenged myself to take what was made before and build over the existing colors to create something of my own.
This is what I ended up with.
Before
After
This picture always make me think of this song.
It's about taking old broken things, giving them to God and seeing what He can create.
Listen...
You Make Beautiful Things
Song byGungor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1spkhp41ig4&list=PL81E68F5A1F0FA410&index=57
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STARTING THE PICTURE...
I used ideas from the mug, but the words of the prayer for my text.
I started with a brown Sharpie. I drew only the lines that I did not want to bleed away with the water brush that I planned on adding later. On the cup, some of the lines are dark and stand out. SOme of the other images (flowers, leaves) are blurry and light. This was my focus for the picture.
I then used my daughters markers (washable in may colors) to fill in some of the details.
After I filled some in, I applied a thin water brush to some areas in order to smear the color. It's kinda like a watercolor marker technique, but with non intended markers.
I am very happy with the end result. I have been staring at the mug many mornings, wondering when I would make art to reflect what I love about it. And I am even more happy that the meaning points others in the direction of my Lord and Father Jesus Christ. The greatest blessing is being able to be used as an instrument of Peace for Him.