I saved this a few weeks ago as I liked the colors of the print and thought they might be good inspiration for a future art piece. Little did I know how the words would come in handy. But oh, they sure have. So while I'm not there yet, this is where I'd like to be. Maybe I can find some time to paint a little along the way.



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The last few days have been fantastic, and by fantastic I don't mean in a time-of-my-life sort of way but rather a time-to-relax-with-nothing-planned-and-nowhere-to-be sort of way... to the point that I spent much of the weekend studying a list of things to do and then just watching the Olympics.


Finished up a painting last week, of which my favorite piece is this top photo. I'm not a real cutesy heart type, but I love how this part turned out. "Love fiercely" (which you can barely see in the top right) was part of the painting that described the friends who were the victims recipients of this piece. They love people so well and are already missed.


Along with a final dinner for the above mentioned friends came crockpot chicken. I hence forth declare that I shall never cook a whole chicken in any other fashion. So tasty – and props to whoever invented crockpot liners.


Books, books, and more books. I've been so busy the last few months that I haven't done a whole lot of reading. But this is a "quieter" season of life (at least, today is), and so I'm soaking in every page I can get. Is there a limit on how many books you can read at one time? (I count 13 here...)


And I can't leave out a trip to JJ's, the local snow cone stand. Apparently it's the Cajun Cones of Abilene. I don't know if I can make that bold of a judgement call based on one visit, but the Blackberry/Yellow Cake Batter did not disappoint. It's like a rite of passage into summer... now that summer's nearly over. Great timing.


I'm also becoming a fan of Instagram, although I have a few misgivings about it taking away from the legitimacy of good photo editing. But hey, if it can make a crockpot look good, I'm in. Although my current 7 photos are less than exciting, a trip to the mountains is about to revolutionize my scarce Instagramming world. Get ready.

Here are a few shots of the paintings that were donated for the Art Auction (click on each photo to see larger). Photographs do not do these pieces justice; we were so impressed by the caliber of artwork at this year's event. These artists are simply amazing, and we are so grateful for their gift of time and talent to help the children in Ghana.

In no certain order...

The talented Cash Teague painted this piece, which happened to be my personal favorite of the night. (Yes, I am allowed to have a favorite, though I would hang any of these on my wall.)

Cash also donated this beautiful watercolor of a boy on Lake Volta. A man of many talents.

Oil painting by Donita Brooks – beautiful work!

My own piece. Not my favorite I've ever done, but I certainly enjoyed working on it and learned a lot in the process.

Jeff Hankins, a fellow artist from ComChurch put together this piece. Love his graphic style!

My pal Mark Fansler of McKinney painted this incredible piece, our largest at 30"x40". The use of color and texture and blending is absolutely astounding. Angela and I "may have" tried this one out above the fireplace mantle before taking it to the auction!

Randy Brown sent 3 beautiful pieces for the evening all the way from Canyon. This one we actually auctioned off on FB Friday before the event.

Randy's second piece... love the composition here.

... and the third. This watercolor was the painting of the night. The details in the boat, trees, and water are incredible!

Last but not least, the paintings from Ghana. This piece was put together using handprints from the children of Adovepke who will be in our first rescued group of kids this fall.

"Hope" was put together by the Adovepke kids as well as several children of other villages out working on Lake Volta.

What amazing talent! We were so blessed by the generosity of our artists this year and could not have had a successful event without their help. Thank you all for using your gifts for Kingdom things!