Faye's Feedback

Today I received HIS kiss upon my cheek - TWICE! Around the Christmas season I always feel down, not just because I dread the holiday, but because it is especially busy and stressful at work as well. On the dreary drive home, I was feeling very sorry for myself and half-listening to the radio, when suddenly the next song was a very familiar tune and voice. It was the beautiful tenor voice of Steve Bell (my boss) singing the Magnificat , one of the most beautiful pieces from his first Christmas album, The Feast of Seasons. As he sang about how Holy our God is, the tears started coming, reminding me of the reasons why I do what I do. The second "kiss" came unexpectedly from my friend Moe from the House of Hesed , who sent me a very encouraging email (right out of the blue)! She has a ministry working with people struggling with AIDS. "The Gladdening" is a piece that I painted as a result of emerging from another period of  emotional turmoil. God bless you...

What started with a desire to recreate a favourite sunset photo on canvas, ended with a foreboding message…or several, depending on how you look at it. I photographed a phenomenal sunset from a moving vehicle with two friends after a retreat in Minneapolis . The cloud and light formation reminded me of an angel, and I named my photo Angel Sky . On Sunday afternoon I decided to make an attempt at transferring the image in the photo to canvas. Foolish me… how can I possibly re-create something perfect that the Chief Artist Himself created first? After viewing my “finished” version of Angel Sky , I realized that my attempt was pleasant, but weak in the depth department. So I took the canvas, and with a bit of trepidation, made some additional modifications… The painting took on a whole new disturbing demeanor. One aspect of which is: while I spend an inordinate amount of time enjoying sunrises and sunsets (sometimes at the last second avoiding running my car off the ro...

A Painting Story... As I mentioned in my previous blog, I had been away at a refreshing weekend in Minneapolis for a conference called "Women of Faith". My husband called me on Saturday night to let me know that my pregnant daughter, Cherie, was in the hospital, and had been induced. I spent Sunday on the long drive home with my companions Jen Werner and Courtney Perez. We almost lost our way a couple of times, making wrong turn-offs - distracted with conversation and storytelling. Both girls were growing excited, in anticipation of finding out if my daughter had had her baby while we were traveling. The sunset that evening was spectacular - so I took many photos from the moving car, and Jen even stopped the car for a few minutes to snap a few more. At one point, Jen said that the sunset looked like a "crescendo", and I told her that if I painted it, I would give it that name in her honour. Here it is, Jen!! The weekend ended with a crescendo - Cherie...

I was away at a weekend women's retreat in Minneapolis when I got the news that my daughter had been induced and that her baby daughter was on the way. I cried and prayed with my roommate Ruthann, because I was far away from home. Jen, Courtney and I were leaving for our drive home the next morning, and we kept in touch with my husband as we traveled, in case there was news. Cherie and her baby were in God's hands, and if I had to miss the birth, it was my own fault. However, when I arrived home, the baby had not yet been born. I checked in at the hospital the next morning, and there was no indication that the baby would arrive soon, so I went to work for a while, to keep busy. My bosses and co-worker witnessed my blubbering reaction to the phone call in the afternoon, when my son-in-law Chris called to tell me that my granddaughter was waiting for me to come and meet her. My son Thomas works near to my office, so the two of us hightailed it to the St. Boniface Hospita...

How do you know when art is good?  They say " Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. " For visual art, the answer is easy. Good art is "eye candy". You will find that it is difficult to draw your eyes away from it. Perhaps it is the combination of colour, the textures, or the way your spirit is drawn to the meaning of the piece. My own art may mean one thing to me, and another to someone else. The art of music is the same way. Ever since I received my boss' preview tracks of his new Christmas CD, I can't help but be drawn to listen to it over and over - the lyric and music attracting my attention in new ways every time. I play it in my car to and from work, play it while I exercise (I can think clearer then), and while I paint. It inspires me to paint in new and creative ways, and also to meditate on God and how He uses music as a key to open doors in people's hearts. A poem or book can draw one's attention so that you want to read it twice, th...

Have you ever had one of those moments that seem to stand still in your mind and memory where you know absolutely for sure that where you are in life is exactly where you should be? I've had two of those moments recently. The first when I saw the squirming silhouette of my unborn granddaughter, and the second while walking and holding hands with my husband's grandson Carter, who suddenly brought my hand to his cheek for a squeeze. Oh, those melting moments... At this moment in time my life is perfect. I am loved - really loved. We are healthy. We have family, grandchildren, jobs we love and a beautiful home. I am able to paint when I feel the urge or inspiration. I am truly blessed. It hasn't always been this way. Losing my first husband and my mother's gradual descent into dementia has been the most difficult period of my life. I just read today Romans 5:3-4 "...but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; persever...

The last few weeks I have been participating in a summer program designed by my friend Meggie, for the women of our church to pray for each other all summer long. I have a list of women, and I pray for one per day, and Meggie supplied some scripture references to help us pray. I have also been contemplating for the last few months, the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Whatever I am studying or reading comes out in my paintings. Today's painting is called Unfathomable . It is from one of the scriptures that Meggie gave me: Ephesians 3:18 & 19. The photo in the painting is taken from a rather unflattering photo of myself as I was sitting in the sun on the long weekend. I never realized my nostrils were so huge! I could have named the painting " Nostrildamus ", but I digress... I started painting the face at the bottom, and as I contemplated the rest of the painting, I realized that yet again the piece would represent several things: Pentecost, the Holy Spir...

It had been 3 1/2 weeks since I last painted. Starting a new painting was almost a bit intimidating, like I might have forgotten how. But for some reason, last night I was driven to pick up the brushes and a new masonite board that I am trying for the first time. It flowed beautifully all evening, and I feel like I'm free again. The reason for not painting was my mother's sudden heart attack, hospitalization, death and funeral. It was a shock to my system, and one that is taking a while to recover from. Two days before the heart attack, I was taking a weekend painting class in multi-media. My last assignment resulted in a small painting of my mother's face. The facial expression was very fearful looking, and she looked rather ghostly. Having my Mom become seriously ill after painting the portrait kind of freaked me out. Too much of a coincidence. I had been planning a spring art showing in my home, so I decided to go ahead with the showing - even t...

Sometimes when I paint, I don't see the meaning of the piece until it's almost done. But this particular piece wasn't clear for days... I even asked the opinion of friends who have been known to interpret my art for me in new and strange ways. It was after my morning devotions today that the "scales fell off my eyes", and the answer was so obvious, I laughed. Steve Bell had confirmed one of my earlier ideas that it looked like something from creation, and he encouraged me to look at it in a horizontal format. He suggested the name, "Emblem". The painting fits nicely into my Creation Series . The swipes of colour representing (in order from left to right) the Father, Jesus (the sacrifice) and the Spirit, in the creation of our world. They meet in a neat little triangle at the bottom. So there! Of course art is meant to be interpreted in different ways by different people. Everyone "sees" in their own way - right, Byron?

Sometimes technology doesn't work, and you have to depend on God to speak through you and with you. I had that experience last week. I was speaking to a group of art students at the King's School in Winnipeg.  I had met their teacher, Andrea Atkinson at last fall's Manitoba Art Expo at the Assiniboia Downs. She had asked me at that time, if I would visit and talk about my art to her class of students. Well, the time came for the class. She and I had met earlier in the week at my home to discuss the content, and I prepared a powerpoint presentation showing some "progression stages" of certain paintings, to demonstrate technique. I put the presentation on a thumb drive (brand new), and tested the presentation on my computer at work. At the last minute, I sent the presentation via email to the teacher, and even attempted to burn it on a disc. I thought I was ready. A half hour before class time, the thumb drive would not work on two different computers. There was...

My exercise routine usually consists of my treadmill in these dark, winter mornings, but the other day I was lured by the warmer weather to walk outside. I came upon an icy patch on the sidewalk and felt my left foot slip forward, and my right foot swung into the air. I knew I was going down, but the sliding of my foot stopped abruptly, and I slowly lowered the raised leg, amazed and in shock. There was no reason that I should have kept my balance in that peculiar position. I should have been flat on my back, with my head hitting the ice. I continued on my walk, feeling like I was not alone. Once the shock started to wear off, the tears started flowing down my cheeks in thankfulness, and the song, "To God Be the Glory" sprang to mind. Good thing it was still dark out, and no one was around to see me... So this weekend I painted a picture - just for me. It is to remind me that I am not alone - He goes "Before Me", just as He did when my husband Wern died in 2002,...

While I love my job, (like I mentioned in my last blog) it can certainly deal it's own handful of stress, and last week was a doozey. I didn't know how much I had been holding until the weekend began. I know that I paint to release stress, but this weekend I couldn't stop - it was like a very urgent regurgitation of everything inside me - all at once! Saturday started as usual. One painting was finished by mid afternoon (The Cleansing). After dinner, I was driven to the canvas with another idea that was knocking on my brain cells. Luckily, Darl was busy with some shelving renos, so I didn't feel like I was neglecting him. The second painting was finished in two hours (The Firmament). Sunday I woke early and started the third painting. I tried to stay away from the canvas for the afternoon and evening, but it was really hard! (Really, I tried - only sneaked in an hour). Thankfully, Monday's Louis Riel holiday afforded me a few more hours to finish this last pie...

It was a very good day at work today. Steve Bell came into the office for the afternoon and asked us if we'd like to hear a new Valentine song that he wrote for his wife.... ;) My new assistant Sabrina, Dave and I listened as Steve sat down with his guitar and played the poetic, reminiscent and slightly cheeky tune. Have I mentioned that I love my job? One of the best perks of working at the Signpost Music office are these moments where we sit, listen to new music with virgin ears, and later watch the process of a raw song develop into a polished and layered recorded composition. Steve was explaining to us how a new melody usually has a word or note sequence that will at first make us question if we like the song, and then after listening a few more times, we get used to it and either decide we like it or not.  It's the same thing with a painting - we will look at it for the first time and see one thing that may irritate us at first, and then as we take a longer lo...