The Artist at Work

 

It's probably the grace and mercy of God, but I was able to hear his soft quiet nudging this morning on the way to church. I was looking at the clouds admiring His workmanship when he let me in on his process. He said; "I shape them with my hands like a potter shapes clay." I thought this morning's display of gorgeousness was enough, but then tonight He really allowed me to see a small fraction more of the beauty he can create.

 

As sunset began, I saw all of these colors emerge after a late summer storm. Pinks, oranges, and purples all began to swirl like the watercolor painting I was working on. Every time I looked out the window I saw majestic cloud formations filled with golden sunlight.

 

Pictures never capture nature the way God intended it to be seen. He wants us to experience, feel, run, jump, roll in His nature playground. Too often I trap myself behind my computer screen and passively choose not to explore...not to learn...not to immerse.

 

If I can capture a half of a half of a half percent of the beauty that God let me see tonight in my art I will be happy.

Glorious.  I can't believe the colors were that vibrant. I can't imagine how Heaven will look, but boy am I even more excited to see it after the presentation I saw tonight.

 

amen. 

Recap!

My extra days!

 

I was so blessed to be able to stay two extra days in my favorite city on earth. The first part of Friday was spent doing a quick load of laundry (lovely) and moving all of my stuff to a taxi that I took with Sharon to a glorious hotel room.

Bye bye hostel!

Let me tell you I became very thankful for a private bathroom. I am definitely not complaining about the community bathroom at the hostel (it was so CLEAN) but being a spoiled American I appreciated the private bathroom even more after that experience.

The elevator doors all had something comical on the inside! 

After we got settled my Hawaiian buddy (Sharon) and I decided to go visit Ground Zero. It was overcast and drizzling.

 The Freedom Tower is halfway built. I thought it was very beautiful and peaceful looking. A very fitting tribute.

 Two beams in the form of a cross that will be placed back in the memorial when it is ready.

I thought this sign was amazing. America is so young so for a church to have witnessed all of these huge events is amazing and sobering.  

 

 

I couldn't take pictures of the next event I went to, but it was amazing. I went to Mako Fujimura's opening of the Four Holy Gospels show at the MOBIA in near Columbus Circle. I even picked up my graduation gift from my parents there, hehe. The amazing gift is a beautiful illuminated four holy gospels bible. I got to see the paintings in their full size at the opening and I really didn't want to leave. Please watch this video as well as go to his website http://www.makotofujimura.com/four-holy-gospels/ and watch that one too! I have a new favorite artist!

After staying for perhaps only an hour at the show, Sharon and I met up with Faith who was also on the project and we headed off to go see a Broadway show. I was so PUMPED! I'll keep it short. I love Sutton Foster and Joel Grey and I got to see them both onstage. I could have left the next morning and been an extremely happy woman!

After the show we got autographs!

 One of the leading ladies and Faith!

This gentleman was actually a good foot and a half taller than us. He just decided to be comical and bend down to our level.

 The next morning I headed off to see if I could get some cheap How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying Broadway tickets. Unfortunately, I underestimated the Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) fans. There were already a good forty people in line for maybe ten tickets!! So I decided to walk around the city until my next meeting with one of the project girls. Amber was going to take some senior pictures of me in Central Park. They turned out marvelous. She is so talented. 

I then headed off to my next crazy destination. I visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art for the second time that trip. I had one goal and that was to see the Alexander McQueen exhibit that I had missed on my first visit. It was very creepy, but well done. It's amazing what someone can accomplish with fabric. He even said that he was an artist and that fabric was his medium. 

The line took an hour and a half to get through. I was trapped in between two very dysfunctional families.

After that I headed to the Frick museum. I will definitely be going back to that one. It was gorgeous and had a lot of old master's paintings. I was in art heaven! I had a lovely laid back dinner with Sharon after my museum adventures and we walked slowly back to the hotel. I was trying to savor the city as long as possible. The golden hour in NYC is like nowhere I have ever been. The light is amazing as it bounces off of buildings and on to the street.

The view from my hotel room was so NYC. I loved it! Check out the water towers! 

I had an amazing trip. I hope I can visit or live in New York City someday soon. I already miss it. God showed me so much while I was there. I am still processing a lot of the information. I have a feeling I will be back in the city sooner than I think...I hope!

Art Show and the End

I have been back for a while now. The days after the art show were a frenzy and it was hard to keep up and catalog the beautiful experiences I was having. We were preparing for the warehouse opening up to almost the last minute. There were people there for the community, churches, and one of the other Crusade Tribeca tracks. There was even the same sweet grandmother who we talked to in the park a couple of days earlier. She was there with her grown up daughter to see the portrait that Ziad had done of her and her granddaughters. So sweet. They just keep staring at the picture. I loved seeing the look in their eyes. It felt so wonderful to encourage them and make them feel loved.

 

We went home exhausted, but so excited that we had completed an amazing show and that we had opened the community's eyes to the fact that there is a place in the city where people will love them with Christ's love and be there for them in the midst of hard times.

The next day we cleaned up. It was hard having to watch all of our hard work be taken down, but some of the pieces of art will remain in the warehouse as permanent pieces of art and reminder of the event! That evening we ate at a beautiful restaurant in Battery Park looking straight out at the lovely Lady herself...the Statue of Liberty. It was so hard knowing I would have to say goodbye to my new friends. 18 days is not long enough to really get to know people well, but we bonded quickly and pulled off an amazing amount of work! I feel so blessed that I got to have that experience.

Ziad being silly with his coffee cup!

Leigh Ann and I

I was sad to see it ending, but I was excited for the next two days that I had given myself to experience the city more on my own.

Day 15

We knew that yesterday was going to be a long day, because of the art show today. It was really fun dancing around the warehouse and creating our pieces. I am learning so much here. I tried oil paints for the first time. I love them. I unfortunately have chosen an expensive career path.



We didn't get out until 1:10 (and I was with the first group to leave. The last group left at 2:30 am) and the subway trains run slower at night so our hostel arrival time wasn't until 2:30 ish.) but the artwork is mostly finished. I'll post pictures from the show soon!

Day 14

The Beginning of our masterpiece tree.

Working away! That is my watercolor background and Lydia is doing lettering. This isn't going to be used in the show, but it gives me ideas for the future.

Z working on his charcoal drawings from one of the photographs I took of people in the community.

Happy July 4th! It was interesting spending it in NYC. We got the entire day off, but I didn't spend it in the hostel. I spent the day walking to Metropolitan Museum of Art through Central Park and then wandering around CP after the museum. We then made our way up to H&M (LOVE!) and then we went to Chinatown (instead of fireworks which wasn't my idea, but when you are with a group you go with the majority right?)

I've been to the Met twice before this trip and each time I see something brand new that captures me. Now that I have two and a half years of art school under my belt I can appreciate things at a deeper level (I hope! ;)
Mr. Van Gogh is always a favorite.

Denial of St. Peter

This was in Central Park. It reminded me of a cathedral. Do you see the arch?

Amber on the top of the Met overlooking CP.

Marine Corps flag!

Street Art



Gorgeous NYC sunset. It truly was the golden hour.

This was in Chinatown. I did nothing to this photograph. God crafted it. I love it!

Off to prepare for the art show tonight. Will post pictures of yesterday's adventures in the warehouse soon!! Pray we can reach the community!