Right Brain/ Left Brain

Hello there! It's been a while since I posted anything here. Doing so many things. And isn't the time going fast, fast, fast!!!

I just got a "news flash" from the Spirit. The Lord wants both our brain halves to work together! I realize I bounce back and forth from right (more global, creative, associative) to left (more linear, logical and verbal) parts of my brain. Some activities like music and driving are inherently right and left brain activities, but when I get into art or photography, I tend to be so much less verbal. This translates into "no blogging". But check out this Scripture:

"If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. " James 1:5-8

Maybe this seems irrelevant to you, or not related. But to me it says: "Your brain halves are competing with each other, not cooperating. If you want to get the things accomplished you know have been given to you to do, ask the Lord for wisdom. Don't let your right brain tell you that your left brain isn't worth using! Or vice versa! This is simply unbelief, that's all."

This is a little bit different take on these verses, but I think it's applicable:

"Finally, brethren, farewell. Become complete. Be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you." 2 Corinthians 13:11

So, I intend to take authority over these contending brain functions of mine, and now I have some scriptural ammunition! Hope this helps you.

What To Do At Low Tide

I'm at a low ebb right now, after a long period of high creativity. It happens, I think, to everyone. I'm sure you've experienced it, and if you're like me, it's a very uncomfortable place to be. Maybe you've felt drained, empty, or even burnt out. Sometimes it feels like depression. Whatever the causes and accompanying sensations and thoughts, the outcome is the same: low creative output.

Here, I simply enjoy the long walks on the beach, so to speak, listen for the distant voice of inspiration, pick up a few shells, rest, and know that, inevitably, the power to create will return like the tide of the ocean. And just about as suddenly as it went out.

Since I draw my life and inspiration from one Source, Jesus Christ, I take the opportunity to get extra rest in Him, let Him do whatever work He needs to do in me, and do the ordinary daily things in life that have to be done. I enjoy my family and close friends, I get some healthy creative input, I spend extra time in the Word and in prayer, and I wait for His life to well up in me in a greater way. And I resist the temptation to fall into sadness and disappointment, or shame and condemnation, because I'm unable to do everything I think I need to do.

So, I just want you to know I haven't quit on my blogs or anything, I'm just in that low tide place, enjoying the quietness and refreshment of a spiritual getaway.

New Start for "Fireberries"

I've been rethinking some things on here, partly to make it doable for me, and partly to make things better for readers. "Fireberries" is revamped now. I have deleted the previous blog entries, which were mostly long Bible studies (which may or may not be posted in another blog), and I have begun posting short, Scripture based confessions which will appear daily. I am convinced that this is more in keeping with the original vision for "Fireberries", and I am looking forward to the encouragement it will give me as well as though who read it. If you like it, please pass it on!

An Unhappy Surprise

I made a discovery today, and it wasn't a pleasant one. ;( I usually post the entries of this blog from Internet Explorer, and had formatted all these blog pages from there as well. Today I opened it with Firefox and everything looks totally off! Yuck!!

I recently opened a gmail account to use as an address with this blog, to keep my other address personal. I also got Firefox installed so I could use an application a friend needed as I helped her with some design work. I don't generally use Firefox, as I don't like how things look and work on the web as I use it. I've been using Explorer for so long, I'm used to it. I do really like a Firefox plug-in I have which is colorful tabs. It is very helpful, and I wish I could have that on Explorer.

So now I'm in a quandary. I don't think I can make my pages look good in both formats, so I'm letting you know that if it looks bad in Firefox, maybe try it in Explorer. I guess that's a bummer for Firefox users. If you have any suggestions, please let me know. In the mean time, I'll explore some alternatives for fixing my looks so they work for everyone. I guess that's what happens when you try to "push the envelope". I just don't want to look like every other blog. Is that a hopeless goal? I certainly hope not. Please leave me a comment if my pages look messed up to you. Thanks so much for your feedback.

Reconstruction

For a while some of my blogs may be offline (marked "private" for a little while) as I create and tweak the backgrounds. Hope that's not too inconvenient for you. Sometimes it's a bit tricky and it takes a while for me to get it right. I'm working on it. I have a widescreen monitor, so the backgrounds are optimized for that, but I'm trying to make them good for smaller monitors too. Hope they're enjoyable for you! Let me know if you're having a problem with anything. Thanks.

New Backgrounds and Virus Attack

OK, I'm feeling a little bit proud of myself for learning how to do code for these new backgrounds! They're not perfect, but I'm liking it much better. Soon I'll have them all done. Hope you like them! Now, it's a stupidly late "wee hour of the morning", and I am going to try to go to sleep. I'm praising the Lord especially tonight, because He and Bob saved me from a trojan attack on my computer. My carelessness I'm not so proud of. I think it's going to be alright though, and I'm very grateful. Be watchful out there!!

Really, the Art Is For Christ's Sake!

I have to admit, I'm addicted to the Word of God! Apparently everyone is addicted to something or other, so I have to choose addictions, the ones that bring me closer to Him.

So what I did was, I added a link on the big picture on the bottom of "Spirit Eyes", so you get related Scripture Bible study. Cool huh?

Pictures may be worth a thousand words, but I'd rather have one Word from the throne room of God than a thousand pictures per day that I don't quite understand. Any comments?

A Link To My Art Gallery

Just in case you're interested, I have a set of galleries at Imagekind.com where you can purchase my artwork. I've added a button on the side of this page too. Here's the link: http://ArteZoe.imagekind.com/

I am impressed with the quality of the paper and printing they offer there, and the usability of the site. You can pick your own sizes, type of paper or canvas, mats and even choose a frame from the large variety offered. You have 30 days to send back the artwork if you're not happy with it. So not too much risk! My personal choices for paper and framing that I've given you on there are archival and not the cheapest, but don't let that deter you from choosing something more affordable.

You can also order high quality greeting cards from any of the artworks I've placed in the gallery. Most of them require a crop, so that will be your own choice. So far I've uploaded only things that can be printed large, and that I am confident will look good printed, but you can choose a smaller size if you prefer. I still haven't been able to order any prints so I can see them myself. Thus, the guarantee is a good thing. Still, I'm confident in the quality of the artwork and the resolution of the prints.

I have a lot of artwork I've done in the last couple of years, and since it takes a long time to upload the large files required to make a good print, I haven't posted much in the gallery. So if you ever see anything of mine here or on Flickr that you "just can't live without", please email me at ArteZoe@gmail.com and let me know what you would like to find in the gallery. I'll do my best to make it available.

Thanks for dropping by!

Karen

Art for Art's Sake

Recently, I had a discussion with a friend about letting art speak for itself. As "they" say, "a picture's worth a thousand words". Being a writer, I suppose I took that as a challenge to write at least a thousand words about my artwork, but I suppose that could also be taken to mean, "shut up and let the art talk".

By now I guess you know that I seem to always start new blogs. In reality, I have only divided up what I have been doing over the past two years on Flickr, and in my original 360 blog. The work was so varied that I began to think it would be better to separate it all, and to give people the choice as to what they would look at or read. So here is ArteZoe, with another blog.

I've created a new blog page "Spirit Eyes", as what I have called my "Daily Gallery". I am putting up a new artwork every day (hopefully). There will always be only one entry: it is gone the next day, no archiving, for a fresh experience.

In an attempt to show my art without distraction (Flickr has comments and groups, "The Path of Love" is definitely wordy), there will be no words, except the title and copyright notices.

So now you have a choice to see my featured piece in relative "peace and quiet". At the bottom of the page is the art in large form. Enjoy!

A Special Publication

I've just uploaded a collection of 50 haiku, which I have titled "A Floridian Sketchbook." I've been working on this since 2004, and have finally finished it, at least for now. If you like haiku, which I think is one of the most accessible forms of poetry, you might enjoy reading these on my poetry blog, "Words Like Grapes." (links on this page). It is just as the title suggests, all inspired by the theme of life in Florida, with all its beauty, water and wonderful wildlife. I'd love to hear your impression of these. I hope you enjoy them!

Karen

This Is Where You Can Find All My Stuff (an Update)

I created this page to provide people with one location to find everything I do online, with links to everything. So it may look like there's nothing really happening here, but hopefully, it's where you can easily connect to all my places. I'm still working on making everything link together. As I don't have my own website at present, it's the best I can do. I hope I've made this useful and functional. Please let me know if there's a problem, or you have a suggestion as to how I can make it better.

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Occasionally, I expand my blog(s), or add a site to my ongoing activities. I think I will start giving little updates here, just to help you know what I have available. For instance, I recently started networking on Facebook. That's been a fun experience, as I have reconnected with old friends, even people that live in my own geographical area. I've also started a new YouTube channel, which will progress very slowly, I assure you, but where you will be able to check out my new music videos as they as created. So far, I only have one up. It's one of my favourite songs I've written, "See Into Me", that we recorded in our studio, with a slideshow of some of my older artwork. Not bad for a scratch recording and a first attempt at video!

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I have also divided my blogs on Blogger once again, creating a new poetry blog: "Words Like Grapes". The funny poems will still show up on "The Elephant Dropped In For Tea", but as unfortunately I don't write many funny ones, most of my poetry will be on "Grapes".

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"Fireberries" here on Blogger is my Biblical studies blog. I don't post a lot, because I want to make it count, and honestly, each one takes 2 to four hours (or more) to write. These are usually quite meaty, and you have to be willing to read and study along with me. I will try to add some shorter devotionals there, like what I've been trying to post on Multiply.

"Fireberries" on Yahoo! 360 still seems to be getting the most views, unless the counter lies, but I have difficulty uploading there, so I'm trying to steer away from posting there. I don't want to shut any doors that are still open, though.

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"The Path of Love" here on Blogger, is the place I have set up to discuss my symbolic and prophetic art pieces. I was posting poetry there too, but I decided to add the blog I discussed above. This blog was inspired (and was the original blog I started here) by Jesus explaining His parables to His disciples. I don't consider anyone my disciples, however, as I sometimes speak in parables, I think it only right to follow His example and explain to those who want to hear: basically those who are His disciples, or who would like to be.

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"The Zoe Zine" and "artezoekins" have been slow to get going, but it's mostly because I started them right before the holidays. I hope to get them more active and lots of wonderful things for you to check out. This is where I can get others involved, and not just myself. I hope you will read Elizabeth Taylor's short story that I recently posted. It's really awesome!

Flickr is still the place I've had the most action and where I've made the most contacts. I've been spending time away from there temporarily to try and get the other places more connected and functioning better, not to mention do some stuff in the 3D world.

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Although to some it may seem like I'm just being egotistical, my motivation for doing all this is to allow my light to shine, as the Lord commanded us. The only reason I can be creative at all is because He is creative, and He lives in me. When I allow Him to fill me, then there's lots of overflow. This is what I like to share with whoever wants to receive, because then they can receive some living water. I have tried to channel it into places where the most people can easily find it. It's not really me you're connecting to, it's the Spirit of God flowing through a willing vessel. Even though some of my work is "secular" on the surface, you will always find His life and light in it if you will look, and if you will place it in the context of the total body of my creative output.

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Thanks for dropping by and for taking the time to read this. All the links are right there, on the right side of the page. Please let me know if you find mistakes or bad links. I really appreciate it!

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Karen