Daily Art

Daily Art  #134, A Bouquet for Mother’s Day

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I have decided on this day honoring mothers to up my game in this doodle challenge and switch back to my original concept of doing a daily art challenge. While some of pieces of art will not be totally finished pieces and some may be no more than doodles. I feel they are representations of art done in my weird and unique style. My mom would have wanted me to do my best and while I love to doodle I strive to be an artist. So in honor of mom I am going to do my best. Please read my message to mothers below the picture.‘

Today is Mother’s Day.  In honor of my mother and my mother in law who both passed on a few years ago I would like to give a shout out to all the mothers reading this. I hope you enjoy your day. My drawing today is entitled, “A Bouquet for All Mothers.”

My mother while she was alive was the world to a little boy and a grown man. As a young lad my mother and father separated. My mother took the reins of the household and supported me until I met my wife and moved out. We didn’t have much but what she did give me I knew was out of love. So all you mothers out there who are giving it their all…here’s to you…here’s to you.

Doodle #133, Life is All About Chain-ges 

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Growing up one of my favorite movies was “A Christmas Carol.” While I realize it is not the Christmas season today’s prompt of the word “chain” reminded me of the movie so I created the unfinished drawing, “A Man Chained to Change.” In the movie, for those who don’t know, Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by the ghost of Jacob Marley who comes rattling  his chains. He warns Scrooge that if he doesn’t change he will be burdened in the afterlife by dragging around chains. In the end after being visited by 3 ghosts Scrooge sees the error of his ways and changes his attitude.

I left the picture unfinished for a reason. In life we often are chained to the life we are living until someone or something shows us the error or our ways. Scrooge had his supernatural visit so can we. If we see the error of our ways like Scrooge and ask for forgiveness sincerely in our hearts, we can know the freedom and love he also received. The key to breaking the fear of chain-ge for us comes in starting and developing a relationship with Jesus Christ. It is through him that we can find true freedom and be released from the chains of what is holding us back.

Doodle #132, A Cup of Warmth to Start the Day

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I am a coffee drinker. Give me a cup of joe with some cream and stevia and I am a happy man. However I have partaken in a macchiato or capuccino now and then like the one in my drawing, “A Cup of Warmth.” For us coffee drinkers a daily cup is not only a caffeine fix but a cup of warmth to start the day.

While coffee may be my warmth each day I also try to make myself a little bit of warmth to others. I work in an inner city school. Each day I come in contact with students, many of whom have lives you wouldn’t believe if I could tell you. Some of the students respond to the warmth others not so much.

I however, choose not let myself take anything personally they may say. It is not because I am anyone special or am immune to biting words. I have just chosen to be a cup of comfort to each person I meet. In school I was bullied because of who I was and how I looked and dressed. I said myself then and there I was not going live my life being someone who differently because of who they are are. When I game my life to Christ it only enhanced my unconditional love for others. So be a cup of comfort to others,

Doodle #131, 3 Reasons to Reflect on Your Reflection

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Each day I get up for work and look in the mirror. I stand there for a few minutes and reflect on my reflection. No I am not going off the deep end. It is just that I ponder about who I am to other people. I know they see me and know my appearance but can they see me for who I really am…a follower of Jesus Christ who is supposed to exemplify his love and caring in this world. It is with these thoughts i have come up with 3 reasons to reflect on your reflection. Not a refection like in a mirror or a puddle like my drawing, “Seeing Yourself in the Water,” but a pondering of how others see you.

  1. People see your ways. No matter how much we feel like we live in isolation someone is always watching our movements. This is especially true of those who claim to be a person of faith. Do one thing out of character and people will be all over the misdeed questioning the validity of your reflection.
  2. People hear you words. Part of your reflection is what you say. As the saying goes, “if you’re going to talk the talk you need to walk the walk,” or as the Bible says, “Let you yes be yes and your no be no.”
  3. People follow your lead. What we say and what we do leads to the third part of your reflection. People will not follow what you claim, they will follow what they see. A hypocrite is a person who claims or preaches one thing but does the opposite of what they tell you, you should be doing.

As you can see looking in the mirror and pondering over your reflection is not all about just seeing how old you look these days. It is about making sure what your reflecting to others is what us truly in your heart.

Doodle #128, Under an Orange Sunset

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I have lived in the Philly area for many, many years. While there is a lot of places I still love to visit within the city limits, I still don’t like the hustle and bustle of city life. I am a country boy at heart. Not to far out in the country but far enough the traffic is not bad. One thing about the city I like is the city skyline from different observation points. I especially like the view during sunset when the sky has an orange glow.  My doodle, “A Philly Sunset,” is a loose rendering of such a sunset.

When I was a new driver, at seventeen years of age, driving around Philadelphia was something I enjoyed. The city had many more places than the suburbs to frequent, like record stores, concert venues, shopping and much more. If I didn’t want to drive I could hop on the EL or subway and get to places I wanted. I spent many hours of my young life in Philadelphia. Thirty Four years ago I moved away from Philly. I now live about an hour away in the suburbs. I get down to Philly from time to time. It is where my son lives now so my wife and I visit one in a while

The weird thing is, like many things from my youth, Philly has lost it’s youthful luster. I guess it is because may of the places I frequented in my youth are not there anymore. Many of the people I knew are no longer there anymore. The city has changed so much over the years. I guess the old saying is true, “You can never truly go home again.” As a follower of Jesus Christ I am glad the Bible in Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.” It is good to know that no matter how much I change, the world around me changes, Jesus never changes.

Doodle #127, Don’t be a Wimpy (Sponge)

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Sponge is one of those words that has more than one meaning. it is a sea creature as pictured in my rendering, it is used for household cleaning as well as in a surgical procedure, but it is also a person who borrows stuff without the intent of giving the borrowed item back.

When I first saw sponges was today’s drawing prompt I thought of Wimpy from Popeye the Sailor Man. He is the guy who is famous for the line “I’ll pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.” Wimpy was always begging for the burger with no intent of ever paying Popeye back.  When I was a kid I knew a lot WImpy like peers. Most of what they borrowed was free rides, “Take me to Philly and I will pay you for gas on Friday when I get paid.” The problem payday Friday never came.

Adulthood has brought it’s share of Wimpys to my life. My problem is I have to learn to say no to people instead of giving to people. The Bible is clear on this subject  Proverb’s 12:24, “The hand of the diligent will rule, while the slothful will be put to forced labor.” I have learned that by giving in to the Wimpys of life I am really doing them a disservice. If a person is always given what they ask for they will never learn to work for what they really need. Don’t get me wrong it is good to help someone out when they ask but if they make a habit of it, take stock of the situation and make sure they are not being a Wimpy.

If you don’t know who Wimpy is click here.

Doodle #126, Blackbird Bye Bye

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Today’s challenge was to draw, of course, a bird. Here is my offering, “Blackbird Bye Bye.” Birds are not one of my favorite things to sketch or draw. The reason is I never think I do them justice by my finished renderings. Sure they look like birds but never like the birds I set out to draw. I guess life also turns out the same way. When we are little we set out to draw our life one way. When I was younger I wanted to be a teacher in the worst way. Instead, after high school, life added some lines of me going to work to earn some money. I intended to go back to school. Instead some more lines were added to my life drawing, me meeting someone and getting married.

My life drawing was still not complete. Some more lines were added and I ended up living somewhere I had never intended.  There I added some more lines to my life drawing. I gave my life over to Jesus Christ, finished my college education, with a degree I didn’t intend to have, and moved on from one layoff to another. A few years later and many more lines later I work at a school, no not as a teacher, but a teacher’s assistant. My life still hopefully has many more lines to go till it is a finished work and I am called home. Yet I reflect on the drawing and do not see the picture I intended to render but am secure in knowing no matter how I see my life, God sees it the way He intended to draw it in the first place.

Doodle #124, The Bell Tolls One, Two, Three

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Today’s drawing is a doodle of a small town. The centerpiece of the doodle and the town is the bell. In years past towns used bells for all manner of things such as signaling there was a fire, a special event was starting and much more. In some old churches bells were used to signal each hour or the start of church. In the ancients telephones had bells which signified somebody was calling. The list of the uses for bells is a long one however the one bell which used to bring me the most excitement was the ice cream truck bell.

In the summertime a couple times a week my friends and I would anxiously wait to hear the peel of the ice cream truck. The louder it got the closer we knew we were to our favorite treats. The ice cream truck loomed large in our minds as the favorite part of summer. Well maybe hanging out and ice cream.

Now many, many, many years later I still like ice cream but now I have to get it from a store or ice cream shop. The thrill of the bells has faded into just a memory. The future does hold for me one more important bell, the proverbial bell which will call me home to my place in Heaven. The Bible says Jesus went back to prepare a place for me and one day I will reside there.

Doodle #122, Three Coins in a Piggy Bank

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Life is all about saving. It’s about putting a few coins away for the proverbial raining day. The problem is to many of us don’t. When I was younger I worked at several jobs which paid me a decent salary for the times. Some of the money I banked but most of it I spent of foolish things. As I look back on those days sure I had a good time but if I would have put some money away maybe today I would be set and ready for retirement. Alas I am not.

The Bible has many verses warning about the love of money and hoarding away stuff but tucked away in Proverbs is this verse in Proverbs 13:11, “Wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it.” What Solomon is saying is this. The quicker you get your money the less you’re going to understand the value of saving but when you take a portion of your money, put it in an IRA or savings account the more the money will increase over time. I’ve spent a lot of money on a lot of things over the years but have little to show for all my wastefulness. If you’re reading this take the time to out some money away. You’ll be thankful for it later.