Life Is Not An Unfinished To Do List

This drawing is confronting some fears and prejudices I have. 

Firstly, I cannot be the only one who answers "I've just been so busy! So much going on!" when people ask "How are you?" 

I say it with pride; I say it with confidence that I sound important. If I'm busy, that must mean I'm in demand, that must mean I am contributing to society in a meaningful way and being productive. That must mean I have value. 

I have some thoughts about this whole 'busy' thing. 

Thought 1: This is obvious, but clearly not obvious enough for me, so I'll spell it out in case you need this idea too: 

Our worth is not centered upon our ability to contribute to society or work.

WOW that's a really hard sentence for me to grapple with. It's easy to say 'yeah yeah, we are all valuable no matter what, blah blah' But deep down, I base my worth on the THINGS I am able to do. If I had to describe a nightmare to you, it would be suddenly being unable to work, unable to DO things. I NEED that. I NEED to have that sense of busy, of completing things, of feeling good about myself. If that got taken away from me, I would have to get to know myself all over again, without worth coming from what I can do. That's a HUGE sign that I'm taking worth from the wrong things. 

Thought 2: If BUSY is the first thing you say to people, let me ask you: Why is that? I know for me, the answer is that studying and working several gigs and jobs here and there means I have to coordinate my diary, and most people I work with are totally unaware of the other commitments I have. As a result, I drive literally all over the city I live in. I take gigs everywhere. I always have multiple projects on the go. This is why being busy happens, because I say yes to lots at once and madly attempt to please all the people I have said 'yes' to. 

A thought popped into my head about this the other day. WHY am I like this? Who says I have to take on every single opportunity thrown my way? I am 100% in charge of my schedule and 100% responsible for when it gets out of control. I actually have an obligation to steward my time effectively and that means putting on my big girl pants and making time for rest and making allowances to sometimes say no. No one else will advocate for my time, that is my job. I am here to bring glory to God, and that includes being intelligent about how I spend my time (And maybe spending less time bingeing Stranger Things on Netflix might be useful......)

Time is a precious resource. It is to be used skilfully: to work, to achieve, but ultimately that isn't the point of it. How I spend my time reflects my maker, and running around in a busy-or-stressed-panic doesn't glorify Him, but neither does sitting on my hands doing nothing. What is on my plate is my choice and I can add the ingredients I want. Some of those must be quality time with loved ones, rest, and prioritising others.

I like Ephesians 5:15-17: "So, then, be careful how you live. Do not be unwise but wise, making the best use of your time because the times are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is."

Let's be wise about the way we spend our days.

Lani 

The Point Of It All O'Clock

There's some writing I'm a big fan of. By a dude called Isaiah. So, according to the Christian Bible, the prophet Isaiah (who wrote these verses) lived and predicted things around 739–681 BC. 

Which is nothing unusual, except he's totally telling us details about the life of a person who doesn't exist for another good 600+  years. WHAT! When i first read these things I thought yeah, cool, he's telling us about Jesus, cool, another verse. (sometimes I find it hard to totally grasp the depth and context of every verse i read). BUT. IT HADN'T HAPPENED YET! Mind blowing.

So this drawing contains some metaphors and imagery coz it popped into my head after reading Isaiah. I'm proud of making this, so let me break it all down for you. 

To the left there are three leaves connected in one strange tree; these leaves represent God the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit. Without these, nothing means anything in particular, and nothing would exist. So the tree has legs, because in God (as a Tree) we move and breathe and have our existence. Also, he's not fixed to any particular time in history, he runs through time with those tree-legs and meets us HERE (2017).

There is another tree there; this one is mighty and is cracking through the background. It has eyes; because I've drawn this tree to represent Isaiah the prophet and the future knowledge he had of Jesus. The eyes see back to the past, to his present time and the wisdom he imparted to his contemporaries, and the future, to Jesus and all the things he would fulfil. 

There is a clock that signifies only one time; the verse Isaiah 9:6-7 (all other numbers fall away, and time is irrelevant). This particular part of the drawing is what I believe everything is about. It's the point of me, the point of you, the reason for the existence of the world, and everything that ever was:

“Isaiah 9:6-7
6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 
7 Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this. (NIV version)”

“This is a different translation:

”For a child has been born—for us!
    the gift of a son—for us!
He’ll take over
    the running of the world.
His names will be: Amazing Counselor,
    Strong God,
Eternal Father,
    Prince of Wholeness.
His ruling authority will grow,
    and there’ll be no limits to the wholeness he brings.
He’ll rule from the historic David throne
    over that promised kingdom.
He’ll put that kingdom on a firm footing
    and keep it going
With fair dealing and right living,
    beginning now and lasting always.
The zeal of God-of-the-Angel-Armies
    will do all this.” MSG version”

Whatever you think about Jesus, whatever you think of the Bible, whether you think it's irrelevant today or just rubbish...

...Isn't it kind of rad that all these predictions came true (there are so many more- look it up). It just totally captures my attention and imagination; the intriguing mystery of how it all came together. 

Mural Making

Hey Friends!

I was commissioned recently to makeover the waiting room for Evolve Therapeutic Services in Logan. 

My design plan was an enchanted forest-y theme that would be suitable for young children as well as youth up to 18 years old. It also needed to suit both males and females.

I decided this theme would suit a range of ages, bring some colour into the waiting room and inspire the imagination. I had such a fun time doing this- I am not primarily a painter, so it challenged me and also thrilled me to see the progress. Singing along to the radio, trying to get minimal paint on my docs (didn't really work, they got painted), getting totally absorbed in colour and the process...I can't think of many other jobs that are more fun than that.

AND I'd love to take on more gigs like this that push me to learn and challenge myself. If you need a wall that needs brightening up, shoot me a message!

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Let Go, and Reach for the Light(bulb)

Title: I Can't Hold My Own Hand And Reach For The Light At The Same TIme

Medium: Prismacolor pencils and pen, 2017.

Size: A1, unframed.

Artist Statement:

This is a bigger size that I usually work on, so it was a drawn out (ha, punny) process of coming back to add bits and pieces at night for about 1 week, after my other commitments. This really made me pay attention to the process, and it truly felt like an act of love to make this piece. It really pulled out from me what was buried deepest in my heart. It was an emotional and satisfying process.

This drawing began as my defiant, independent response to not getting my own way in life: "Fine, I'll hold my own hand then, if no one else will"

As I drew this, I felt that this was not the end of the little story I was telling. I had drawn a lightbulb growing out of the ground, and lights in my art are always about God, and also truth, health or innocence. It was too late to erase the figure holding her own hand so I added in an extra arm to reach for the light (most logical solution).

Our own stubbornness sometimes prevents us from living boldly, and honestly, and instead we settle for our own way: We lock ourselves into a defiant prison of independence. Don't get me wrong, being independent is great and important but personally, I go too far and when I know it's God's place to call the shots sometimes I try and do it for him. Sometimes I get bitter, sometimes stubborn (Am i joking?! It's a daily battle) and want to do things my way, all the time, thinking of me first. 

But instead, I realise that putting my story in the hands of Jesus is where the truth gets exposed and light can exist in my life. He is good and he can also handle all my selfish feelings and independence. He changes me for good. So I will continue to reach for him. Our defiance is not the end of our story. 

Let go, and reach for the light (bulb). 

Imagine....No wait, don't imagine, just have a look.

There is an amazing app to turn your imagined art on a wall into a real art piece on a wall. 

It's called @iartview. You should check it out. Here are some of my artworks (most of these are smaller in real life than they appear here, but I do make custom large prints to order)

Imagine a quirky, surreal piece on your living room wall. Something that starts conversations, something that intrigues your guests.

I'd love to hear from you if you're interested in taking a peek at my available originals, or enquiring about a custom piece.

Have a lovely day! 

Lani x