Friday, April 8, 2011

Testing Waters




Each day

is

testing

new

waters.



Putting

one.

foot.

in.

front.

of.

the.

other.


A

new

today

to

begin

again.


To bloom.

To be real.

To be me.


To

take

another

flying

leap

of

faith.


Each step

with

writing,

photography,

and

art


has

felt

big,

risky,

vulnerable.


Fifteen months ago

I bought

my first

"grown-up" art supplies,

and I took a deep breath of courage when I did.


I

felt the same

way

yesterday

when I bought my first canvases.



I can't believe how much courage

it takes to move from

found wood that others were planning to burn . . .

to a canvas.




And that was just buying them.

I haven't even begun to paint on them.




But these pieces of wood and my newly matted photo prints

that I have poured

my heart into

will be part of my first public events.

And my "studio"

is  full of

works in progress.


Small steps and big steps

toward living the authentic & creative life I want to be living.

Each has felt big.

Resigning a work position.  Beginning a blog. 
Speak at Women's retreat.
Painting~collage~mixed media.
Showing pictures of my work.
Art booths
at
Cammack's Open House, Union Center, SD, April 14
Faith Spring Fling, Faith SD, April 15
South Dakota Chocolate Festival, Spearfish, SD, April 30-May 1.

This is a sneak peek of what I am preparing for
in my studio
{which is in my kitchen}.
Each is a step
that requires me to be
brave,
and
have faith in the One who called me on this journey.
To
be strong
and
courageous,
not terrified or discouraged
for the Lord my God
will be with me
wherever I go.
(Joshua 1:9)


sneak peek
I am so proud and happy
to have been invited to be a part
of Jennifer's
In The Studio Sneak Peek Friday group
which is on
(in) Courage this week here:
I have been richly blessed by the talents of these women
and
grateful to Jennifer for hosting, brainstorming with me,
and inspiring me with her
creative life.

*

Art & photography copyright Jodene (Jodi) Shaw 2011.

11 comments:

  1. This is amazing, Jodi. I see His spirit poured out in each piece. He has been faithful. So have you.

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  2. I love all your work Jodi...
    You are moving quickly - His Hands lifting you up each step of the way...
    So glad to see you are going to be showing at some venues soon - can't wait to see how it all goes!

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  3. Dearest sweet jodene, each of these pieces are gorgeous! Scuh a beautiful post and it made me smile! Congratz on all the wonderful achivements! I am off to heart your shop. :) Have a lovely merry happy weekend and love to you!

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  4. Establish the Work of His hands - amazing piece! I love your work...I'm just in awe looking at everything you've accomplished.

    BlessingS!

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  5. Oh, Jodi! I just want to stand up and shout YIPPEE! And Thank you, God! And Way to go, Jodi! And How lovely! And How smile-able! And how fun. And how out-of-the-box. And How fitting. And how God-honoring. And ... how I wish I could see all your work is person. And how excited I am to know about and see a pix of your 1st on-canvas work. It's a reasonable next step. Beautiful reasonable next step. Ok, I'm smiling here.

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  6. Inspiring...love it all:) If I was in the neighborhood you know I would be there...

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  7. I am so happy that you are part of our group Jodi. You are an inspiration to us! It has been wonderful to see your journey toward living the creative life you want. It is beautiful! I love your wood pieces... are you moving to canvas? :) Thank you so much for joining the studio post on (in)courage. It means a lot to me. ♥

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  8. Wow...just fabulous and love all of your collages. Art journaling and collage art are my favorite creative escapes right now and I never get tired of looking at what everyone else comes up with...talk about inspiring!
    It's Sat. night and DH is watching Nascar so I'm taking the time to catch up on my blog hops. Having a great time with the Sneak Peak Friday and all you wonderfully talented woman...almost intimiated ;) Have a wonderful weekend. Fondly, Roberta

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  9. Wow! You have been so busy! Everything is beautiful!

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  10. So beautiful! Look what comes out of your heart when you are free to express yourself! I am loving visiting your blog & seeing all you do~ brilliant!
    I am in awe of how God leads and provides the encouragement durning these transition periods in our lives~ your pathway looks so fun!
    With love, Junelle

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  11. We share so many of the same goals (and fears). I can so relate to this. Thank you so SO much for your comment on my blog. It spoke to me more than you know. I love to see you out there...going for it! :) Just LOVE it!!!

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Welcome ~ share your beautiful thoughts.