Supporting the Justice-Makers and Family of Travis Alexander through Caricature Ministry

Haven’t had cable TV for a few years now, so when I was commissioned a caricature of a murdered man named Travis Alexander, it was news to me. I had never heard the story before. I began looking up details about Travis to understand more about the story behind the man I was being commissioned to draw (as a gift of encouragement and support for the family). I learned about his reputation as a great motivational speaker, and I really gelled with that, being a former Toastmaster myself. I thought, this is a great guy! How horrible that someone took his life away so violently!

So I became intrigued with the story, learning about the woman accused of killing him, and surprised by the brutal pictures that would show up when I Googled Travis’s name. There was ONE photograph that made me quiver more than any other, though, and it seems strange that nobody else is talking about this picture. It’s a photograph that speaks volumes to me, and I wonder if it says the same to anyone else. It’s the LAST photograph (I’ve now learned for certain) of Travis before he was attacked. But long before I learned that for certain, I KNEW it. When I look at the photograph of Travis looking straight to the camera, I could feel something very creepy going on. I felt strongly that this was a photograph taken at the very moment Travis’s awareness shifted into realizing he was in danger. Only seconds after this shot, the camera fell, as his attack began.

It seems weird for me to write this observation on my nice happy blog, but I am wondering if anyone else has had this feeling about this particular image. I just HAD to post it.

I also wanted to share the caricatures I created for Travis’s family and one I enjoy of Prosecutor Juan Martinez that I personally love (sent to him again in support as a gift by my client as we continue together on our Angel Caricature Ministry). I held off sharing this one of Juan Martinez because I didn’t want to jinx the outcome of the trial by posting the message, “Thank You for bringing JUSTICE!” I was already worried of making that prediction before the jury made their decision, and was RELIEVED when I heard the verdict. I know the story isn’t completely over yet, but as the hype about this story is still fresh, I thought it a good time to post about this at last.

A final call out to Travis’s spirit… May you be remembered as the person people loved when you were alive – not the person fabricated and spewed through the media by your murderer. May you rest in peace, Travis!

Launching a 30-Day Create-A-Way Video-a-Day Challenge!

If you are unable to view this video below, visit my YouTube page link here:

http://youtu.be/oHuQm97FJEw

Dear Mr. Watterson ~ I just want to say THANK YOU.

Last night was one of the best date nights ever with my husband. It has been difficult to keep enthusiasm going to nurture our own relationship, and this film was just what the doctor ordered. We turned and smiled at each other many times during the film (are we nerdy for wanting to hold hands while watching a documentary about Bill Watterson?). The film rekindled passionate feelings inside us for the art of illustration, and for the comic that had influenced both our lives. It was a wonderful common interest to bond us together again in the most special way.

David and I met in Art School. He was such an amazing artist there, I felt like I was dating the quarterback by being his girlfriend in school. So watching and hearing about the reclusive genius, Bill Watterson, made me remember also how I remembered David back in Art School as well (they have a few things in common).

And I remembered how Calvin & Hobbes affected and influenced me growing up into an artist. I noticed the superior quality of Calvin & Hobbes art in the newspaper. I was drawn to it immediately, and it was always the first comic I would go to, often clipping out the strip and saving it to put in my special collection jar, or to paste into my journal. Calvin and Hobbes even started to affect the way I would journal. Just as Watterson pushed the envelope with the layout of his cartoons, I pushed myself to explore different ways of journaling – using pictures instead of words to express myself – even if it was collaging cartoons together to make something humorous of my own.

So I wanted to write my own “Dear Mr. Watterson” as well as a thank you to the director of this film, Joel Allen Schroeder, for creating this wonderful reflective tribute that has rekindled love for a lot of people I am sure. I certainly know it did for me.

THANK YOU!

My sketch from teenage-hood – Calvin & Hobbes

A favorite image I sketched out from Calvin & Hobbes

Playing with cartoons in an old HS journal page

Calvin Cameo appearance in an old HS journal

Calvin & Hobbes ATC

Love is a DECISION – not just a feeling.

I found this wonderful excerpt that has been passed around Facebook. I have no idea who the original author is. I would like to give credit, so if anyone knows, please add it to the comments.

The entire message is very long, so I took out this excerpt which spoke to me the strongest right now in my life:

“The key to succeeding in a Relationship is not finding the right person; it’s learning to love the Person you found.

SUSTAINING love is not a passive or spontaneous experience. You have to work on it day in and day out. It takes time, effort, and energy. And most importantly, it demands WISDOM. You have to know
WHAT TO DO to make it work. Make no mistake about it.

Love is NOT a mystery. There are specific things you can do (with or without your partner), just as there are physical laws Of the universe (such as gravity), there are also laws for relationships. If you know how to apply these laws, the results are predictable.

Love is therefore a ‘decision.’ Not just a feeling.”

I’ve reached that point in my marriage where the LOVE is harder to find. It gets buried underneath higher priorities like the children’s needs, financial junk, kids’ daily and weekly homework and other school projects, careers, trying to find space for myself, and household chores.

Where on earth is there time to tend to my marriage?

Well, as I’ve learned from the book “Creating Time,” there IS time in my life. It’s just spent on other things, and my husband is forgotten in the mix. Love ends up not being so easy anymore.

And it’s good to know that that’s OKAY.

The important thing is to recognize that our life is changing and it’s time to try stirring up that love again. Time and energy needs to be spent on something I never had to “work” on before. Love is supposed to just “happen,” right?

That’s why love becomes a decision – a choice. You can choose to resent the fact that it’s not easy anymore. You can choose to dislike the person your spouse has become throughout your many years of living life together. Or you can choose to open your heart to your spouse and try to see his/her inner child – the person you originally fell in love with before she/he became tainted by life and responsibilities. Choose to smile. Choose to lend a hug or a back scratch. Choose to listen, even when you feel you don’t have time.

Choose love.

 

Choosing a Gratitude Moment During Ohio’s Easter Winter

I had a surprising moment last night in the kitchen while warming a cup of tea in the microwave. I happened to glance out the window to our backyard, It was pitch dark outside, except for a light I could see by a neighbor’s garage. It created a patch of light to highlight the beautiful soft, fluffy snowflakes coming down.

The surprise I felt was in reaction to how struck I was by the beauty of the snowfall. Lately I’ve been feeling pessimistic about the cold weather, looking forward to the Spring weather we should be having at Easter time. But in that moment I felt complete peace, admiring the beauty of the snow as much as I would have if it were Christmas instead of Easter.

I had to work on something that evening, and really needed to get to work, but I felt I really needed to CLING to that feeling and extend this moment a little longer. I set the microwave timer for one and a half minutes, and went into the living room to kneel on the couch, arms crossed over the back of it to gaze out our front window. There I could see the snow falling by the front porch lights of the other houses on our street. Everything was blanketed in white. It was beautiful. I remembered how I used to feel when I appreciated snow. I used to love watching the snow fall when all was quiet at night. When it rains, you hear pitter patter on everything the rain hits (which is great too – I love the sound of rain), but when it snows, it’s amazing. It’s so quiet. The snow itself seems to muffle any noises. I think that adds to the beauty of it for me, and brings me into a state of peace.

It’s amazing how long one and a half minutes can feel like when you allow yourself to be truly absorbed in the moment. When the microwave timer went off, I could have sworn I’d been gazing at the snow for more like three or four minutes.

I just wanted to share this moment of peace with you to hopefully inspire you to take even one minute (time it) to simply gaze out your window and sit in awe of how miraculous this earth of ours truly is.

I triple dog dare you!  :)

The Enlightened Mom – Miracles received last week from former Miss USA, Terri Amos-Britt!

I just had to express my gratitude for a great miracle I received recently. I won a package of materials PLUS a Life Strategy Session from Terri Amos-Britt, a spiritual coach, motivational speaker, author, and former Miss USA. This all happened from entering (on a whim) her Facebook giveaway contest.

First of all, this miracle happened during a very difficult week. I was feeling very down and depressed. Ironically, the package I won was called the “Happy Mom Package.”

I am just beginning to get to know Terri and her work, and was blown away by the Life Strategy Session I received from her. I received SO much healing from it. We also had a follow-up call a few days later to confirm whether I would join her Divine Mother program, and we talked a little longer than I know she planned – yet she was generous with her time and again gave me quite a gift of extra healing. I happened to be sick at home that day, and had the house to myself, so I was able to delve even deeper than before. Some very profound things came through our session together. I was able to visualize my husband’s inner child (creating a blanket of compassion in my heart to dissolve any resentment that might bubble up), and I also was able to verbalize and give attention to a source of pain from my childhood. I had thought about this particular instance before (many times), but was finally able to really explore what this memory meant to me spiritually and emotionally, and realizing why this memory has been so vivid for me.

I could not believe how much healing came from less than an hour of time on the phone with her.

I had to write this article as a thank you to Terri. I’ll be following her work from here, on. She is such a special soul with much to offer. Please check out her website. I subscribed to her newsletter, receiving her “Lighten Your Load” video series. That will give you a good taste of Terri’s gentle soul.

Thank you, Terri! And thank you, God, for leading me to her Facebook Page  :) I love online synchronistic miracles!

“The Neverending Story” ~ battling depression and recognizing the angelic “Falcors” in my life.

When you’re a sensitive soul like me, sometimes it seems the journey of overcoming depression is one that will never be over. There are good days and bad days. There are good weeks and bad weeks. Then sometimes a week goes by and you realize you haven’t exercised your smile muscles much at all. Sometimes you just hit a “Life Low” and it just gets hard to pick yourself up.

I had a low moment last night that was particularly difficult – I can’t get into specifics about the cause, but I can say it’s the lowest I’ve felt in a long time. I struggled to get my kids to sleep without them watching me cry, and waited for alone time after their bedtime to try calling my sister for support. I couldn’t get through to her, and decided to reach out on Facebook instead and then head off to bed early. The post simply stated: “Darn it. Now I’m feeling so terribly low. Amazing how just a few completely inconsiderate words can bring you down like a bullet when you’ve forgotten to put your emotional shield up. Going to bed early tonight. I hate it when the kids have to see “sad Mommy” when they go to bed. Time for a good cry.”

Then a series of miracles happened…

Less than a minute after I posted this, I received a “hug” from a Facebook friend. Then another, and another. I thanked those few people quickly for their support and decided I needed to go upstairs to get ready for bed and fill out my “Mood Diary” (I’m tracking my moods just to find out if there’s a pattern).

Then my sister called, returning my phone call. I was able to have a wonderful heart to heart with her, and wept freely on the phone with her to release my hurt feelings. The experience was a gift.

When I woke up in the morning, my son wanted to watch some of “The Neverending Story.” he particularly wanted to watch the part where the horse sinks into the Swamps of Sadness – I fast-forwarded through that part when his sister was around the day before and he got mad at me (I explained Rose is too sensitive to watch that part, and he could watch it without Rose in the room next time). So I cued it up for him and watched it, amazed by the sudden realization that this film was speaking to me right when I needed it. “Fight against the sadness, Artax!” The boy screams at his horse friend, pleading with him. It was hard for me not to cry while standing by, watching it with him. And then the part afterward spoke to me VERY strongly (see video above), when the boy succumbs to the sadness himself. He’s chased by the great wolf and rescued by the angelic creature, Falcor, who appears from the clouds above! I couldn’t help but realize this part illustrated how I feel about depression so vividly. When we are in that sinking pit of depression, that is where evil lunges forward to grab us! But thank goodness there are always the angels coming down just when we need them to rescue us, reminding us hope is real, and love saves us in the end!

By afternoon I had about 30 comments of support on my desperate post from the night before.

I also received a couple caricature jobs to do this week, commissioned by an angelic friend.

And unbelieveably I received a message that I won a contest I entered last week on TheEnlightenedMom.com’s Facebook page. It was called “The Happy Mom Package,” worth $400!

Here is what was posted as the prize:

I want to give away my Happy Mom Package! That’s $400 worth of FREE training for you to find your joy again
Here’s a snapshot of what you’ll get:
*My book, The Enlightened Mom, and its companion 3-CD set of 25 meditations: a step-by-step guide to release subconscious beliefs that sabotage your peace and happiness.
*My 4-part crash course audio series, The Enlightened Mom: Stepping onto the Path, filled with foundational tools to jump-start the new you.
*See the gift in all of your life’s trying moments with my book, Message Sent: Retrieving the Gift of Love.
*Get out of your head and go straight to your heart with my CD, Message Sent: Meditations for Retrieving the Gift of Love.
*AND… A FR.E.E 30 minute “Life Strategy” coaching session with me!

I could not believe the synchronicity that happened today – I call these people all my “Falcors” (Falcor is the name of the angelic creature who saves the boy from the Swamps of Sadness). I am so grateful!

Who are the Falcors/Angels of your life? Who stretches out their hands to help you out of that swamp when you need it?

I guarantee you have more in your life than you think!

“Holy Watercolors, Batman!” + an Artist’s Way Inner Critic Dialog.

The Artist’s Way was my first real introduction to the concept of inner critics and synchronicity, and both of these things came up for me while developing my idea for my Holy Watercolor Paintings.

First my inner critics piped up, saying, “Who do you think you are, using Holy Water to paint with? You know other people will criticize you for doing this, right? This is a terrible idea. People will hate you for doing this.”

I remembered from the Artist’s Way that I could try having a dialogue with my inner critics, so I gave that a try.

It took all my inner strength to quell those inner critics enough to listen to the part of my soul which told me this was a really cool idea, and reminded  me why I felt inspired to do it in the first place. I told my inner critics, “It would be so wonderful to have a piece of sacred art that actually USED Holy Water as an INGREDIENT. It would make the piece of art itself a sacred, blessed piece of art. What’s wrong with that?”

Of course my inner critics had an instant reply all ready: “I’ll tell you what’s wrong with that! Holy water is sacred. And you’re going to mix it with your sloppy paint and brushes? How dare you? That’s not what you’re supposed to do with Holy Water!”

I answered back: “People sprinkle Holy Water on ANYTHING. It is meant to be used as a blessing. As long as I use it respectfully, and knowingly, acknowledging it’s sacredness as I paint, it will add a special meaning to what I’m doing.”

My inner critic at this point starts to soften up, but doesn’t give up yet. It says, “Okay, then – but what do you plan to paint using this special Holy Water? You’d better not paint anything stupid.”

I discuss back and forth with my inner critics about what the best choice of subject matter would be, at least to start with, to get myself confident with it. Through consultation with my inner critics, I realized illustrating Bible verses would be a great idea. That made my inner critic satisfied, and even brought my inner critic to a silencing point. WHEW!!! Sometimes those inner critic dialogues can be brutal, but if you hang on and negotiate with them, they really can end up being a good way to gain confidence in what you’re doing. If you can beat your inner critic dialog, you’re prepared for outer critics that might come up to attack you.

I appeased my strict inner critic even more by purchasing a Holy Water font to use as my vial to hold the water as I painted, dipping my brush into the font to make the whole act of painting a sacred experience. I even said a prayer before every painting session, to bring myself to a spiritual place of sanctity.

Regarding synchronicity, I have actually always hated painting with watercolors in the past, and as I grew older, I realized WHY I hated painting with watercolors… It’s because I didn’t feel in complete control when I painted with watercolors. When you paint with watercolors, you really have to let go. Watercolor paint can be manipulated to a certain extent, but in the end, the water will stain the paper at it’s own speed. I’ve learned to appreciate to accept and admire the synchronistic aspect of watercolor painting. It’s like life – you can only control so much, and at some point you have to let go and allow “The Great Creator” to work it’s magic. So with my Holy Watercolor paintings, I decided to have the background painting be 100% synchronistic by using mostly Holy Water, mixed with a little paint, and letting it drip all over the place, allowing the background to be one big abstract, drippy, beautiful mess. The control happens when it is time to paint the lettering overtop, and even then I allow Spirit to guide me as far as adding any swooping embellishments or adding the stamp of the cross somewhere.

I’m looking forward to doing more with my Holy Watercolors now, thinking of stemming on to painting some of my favorite Saints and angelic images. The journey has just begun!

I’ve been collaborating with Wenona Morning Star Gardner lately, and my painting story was highlighted in her wonderful Google + Hangout this week. Check out her recording to view other Artist’s Way testimonies this week.

5-Year Blogiversary Week – Day 5 – GIFTaway to My Blog Followers!

I’m in a GIVING mood this week, so I thought it would be fun to send THANK YOU gifts to a couple randomly chosen followers! I won’t post their identities here, I’ll simply be contacting them today by email with a link to their gift: a $10 Amazon.com e-gift card!

Without people following my blog, there would be nobody to write to. It means the world to see the stats rise and to get those “LIKE” notifications, just to know people are enjoying my posts!

I am enjoying these giveaways immensely  :)

5-Year Blogiversary Week – Day 4 – GIFTaway for my top 6 Commenters!

I thought it would be a good idea to post a THANK YOU to those who are wonderful enough to leave comments on my blog. Comments are appreciated SO much by those who blog. When you leave a comment, you create a connection and you show the blog writer that their words have meant something to you.

I’ll be GIFTing prizes to the TOP 6 commenters on my blog!

The prizes?

You’ll each get a “Wonder Woman” logo necklace! I bought these off of Etsy. Wonder Woman is my personal icon lately, and you top commenters are Wonder Women to me!! I thank you from the bottom of my heart and I CELEBRATE YOU today!!

My 6 TOP COMMENTERS are:

• DeAnn Miller
• Dr. Angela Kowitz Orobko
• Jenny Barnett Rohrs
• Joan Little
• Andrea Schroeder
• Katie Beckwith

Thank you to you all!! I just wanted to express my deepest gratitude for following my blog, and comments are the ultimate gift you can give me to help communicate that my musings mean something to people  :) – I’ll be contacting those of you I don’t have addresses for, so I can get these out to you soon  :)

YOU ARE MY WONDER WOMEN!!!!