20 days in North America: Chicago

I know that many of you enjoy armchair travelling with me.  Over the next few posts I am going to share my recent trip to the United States and Canada.   Before I went my plan was to have 5 posts as we went to 5 major places.  However I returned with well over 1200 photos, so rather than have 5 very long posts, I am going to do several shorter ones.

Let's start in Chicago.  We arrived mid-afternoon at the hotel and then took the Blue Line to Downtown.  We walked along the Navy Pier.

Then we walked through part of Downtown where there are lots of very tall buildings - more about them in the next post.

Roger was determined to have a deep dish pizza so we tried to get into Pizzeria Uno where it was invented.  However, so did the rest of the world, so we went to Pizzeria Due instead.

Next post: Architecture tour, Magnificent Mile and the view from 96 floors up!

Thanks for stopping by.
Bernice

Faith & Creativity: Debby Hudson

Please welcome Debby Hudson today.

My husband and I are ordained ministers working with men in a residential recovery program. Walking the beaches of South Florida restores our soul. I find myself in many creative pursuits. I like my tea sweet and my music loud. If laughing were a sport I’d be a champion.

My hands are always busy. Doodling, writing, coloring, shooting photos, editing….it is a quiet busy but the eyes study, the hands move and the mind runs.

The first drawing I did that was recognized for some artistic ability was of a postal truck. I was in first grade and my drawing was chosen to be part of an exhibit at our local Sears store. I liked that my mom encouraged my interest in drawing. She never stopped.

"Everything is pure to those whose hearts are pure. But nothing is pure to those who are corrupt and unbelieving, because their minds and consciences are corrupted.” Titus 1:15 NLT

My art isn’t Christian. Or unChristian. Art is lessened by labels. It is an expression, an offering of sorts. More than that, it is, as Madeleine L’Engle says, “an effort toward wholeness”.

I push myself to try something new. To learn a new form or technique. To not become stagnant. The struggle isn’t with skill but with not being so critical of my work.

Another challenge for me is feeling there must be a purpose. Over the years I made more cross-stitch pictures than I had walls to hang or friends to give them to.

One year I was making paper mache Santa’s. Too many Santa’s or too few friends. And selling, while I did some of that, has never been my strong suit.

Now, it’s my computer filled with more and more photos thanks to the still life class I’m in and I ask myself, what am I going to do with this? Just let them sit on my computer? Make another photo book? How many watercolor pads can I fill with paintings? How many can I share with friends? There has to be some purpose in everything. I’m far too practical to be a real artist I think.

"The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls.” Pablo Picasso

A friend reminded me that the purpose is in sharing. Sharing touches others. To bring a spark of joy, a smile or a laugh, at times maybe a tear. With social media, sharing our art is easier than ever.

"Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.”
Edgar Degas

Realizing this has opened me up to see that art is broader than paint brushes and canvases. It goes beyond musical scores and skillful fingers flying across the keys of a baby grand piano.

“Art is communication.” Madeleine L’Engle

I would even ask you to consider what is the art in you?

Tone deaf? Can’t draw a stick figure? Do you have trouble threading a needle or every photo you take is blurry?

Look deeper. I believe that God who is the masterful Creator of the universe, has made us to share in his creative process. He’s put art in you.

Preston Yancy, who writes beautifully about his spiritual journey, finds a spiritual connection in making bread. I prefer buying it ready made. I don’t get the art he finds in this but I find beauty in knowing this is what God uses to draw him closer.

Not all art is public. Nor is all art made by those called artist. It’s definition can only be defined by what God puts in your heart.

To my husband, art is a well tended golf course.

Art is a smile, a child’s laugh.

It’s a new born baby and an aging woman helped to the sea by her daughter.

It’s a daughter sitting with her mother who doesn’t remember her and loving her anyway.

Art is the orchestra and the conductor.

Art is revealing little pieces of you in everything you write.

Art is hearing God’s voice and letting it mark your life in all you do.



Thank you Debby
You can find more from Debby online at
Blog: debbyhudson.com
Twitter: @debby_hudson
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/debbyhudsoncreative

Faith & Creativity: Mary Brack

Today's guest is Mary Brack.

Mary is a wife and a mother to adult daughters and works in church outreach ministry. Creative pursuits of art journaling, blogging, photography, and hunting vintage items keep her sane. 


“In the beginning God created….the earth was formless and empty…” Genesis 1:1-2
God took nothing and created something.

”God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female He created them.” Genesis 1:27

We were created by a creative God who made us in His image to be creative also. When we create, we reflect the image of God, the Creator.

Through creative self-expression we become more of who we are and who God created us to be.

Erwin McManus, in his book The Artisan Soul, says,
"He who is the Creator God is the creative God, and he created us in his image and likeness. He created us with imagination and curiosity, with the capacity to hope and dream, and he placed within us all the material necessary to live an extraordinarily creative life. The proof is that more than anything else we are a soul, and that soul is the divine material with which we are made to create. The difference between humans and every other species on this planet is that humans are artists. This is our uniqueness - we were created to create."

For me, my creativity and my faith are very closely intertwined. In fact, in times of dryness, when I am experiencing a creative block, I generally find in looking back that I was experiencing a time of dryness spiritually also. Once my spirit is refreshed, I find that my creativity is refreshed as well.

Much of the time when I create, my ideas for art journal pages come from my time spent in God’s Word and in prayer. I may make a page that has a Bible verse on it, or a page that has a quote, or just a word or two. Those quotes and words may be spiritual or not, but they have all come about as a result of my time connecting with The Creator in prayer and in the Bible – it is all created from my soul.

Over the years that I have been art journaling and making mixed media art, certain symbols appear often in my art. They are not overtly religious or spiritual symbols yet they hold spiritual significance for me. Circles, for example, remind me that God is whole and eternal and I find my wholeness in living out who He created me to be. I have a love for birds and enjoy watching them. They appear often in my art simply because I enjoy them. But they also hold a place of significance for me. We went through many tough years and those times brought us to a deeper faith and a deeper place of trusting God for provision and care. Reading Matthew 6:25-34 during those hard times would help me keep my focus on God and remind me of His care for us and that in caring He would provide what we needed. So a bird became a symbol to me of God’s care and love and a reminder that I can trust and depend on Him.

Nature is another thing that appears often in my art journaling and in my photography. Time spent in nature, walking and taking photos, is a very sacred time for me. I see all that God has created, the beauty that it holds, and it is a time of worship and praise. Nature reminds us that we are finite beings who serve an infinite, mighty and merciful God.

So, whether you look at my art pages and see a verse of Scripture or simply a quote, those pages reflect who I am in Christ. They reflect my journey and my heart. Many symbols on my art pages, while not speaking directly to the observer, reflect the ways God has transformed me and the ways He has made Himself known in my life.

Thanks Mary.
Find Mary's faith explorations of life and art at Found on Brighton.