My favorites

At a Time Out for Women conference, I fell in love with artist James Christensen.

Here are three of my favorites.

What are you holding onto...?

The Iron Rod

This little man has his eye on the rod, but like so many of us, he is burdened with his "stuff".
Stuff that makes us feel better, look better and feel safe. Whatever this "stuff" is to each of us, it can keep us from reaching up and grabbing hold, for fear of dropping something else. All we do is move our "stuff" (drama, clutter, pride, worries, anger) from moment to moment.
What is truly important is keeping sight of our true belief and faith, they alone will guide us through.

The Responsible Woman

This one I recently used in a YW lesson. I love the chin-up attitude on this lovely woman's face. She plays many roles in her daily life and soars above the unpleasantness (I will have to work on that one). Among her roles are:

- Mother- Pet caretaker- Chef- Housekeeper- Leader (Lighting the way with wisdom)- Scheduler

Of all of his paintings, this one has become my Favorite!

Sometimes the Spirit Touches Us Through Our Weaknesses

Here is the description that I found in the artists own words.

The hunchback is Everyman, and the hump is his burden. We all have burdens. The point is that as he sits there on that box,he may be concerned, but at the place where the angel spirit's finger touches the hump, there's a little light. It's my way of showing that most growth comes through coping with adversity. We grow by dealing with the tough stuff. If you pray for strength, God sends you a set of weights.
The hunchback is sitting on a box that says literally, in Latin,'after clouds, sun'. That's supposed to remind people to find the silver lining. My whole philosophy of life is that part of why we're here is to learn to be nice to each other, to grow and become better people. And how do we grow? We grow through adversity. We grow by triumphing over our weaknesses or using the vehicles of our weaknesses to get in touch with more important things.
For me, the, doorway was a backdrop, but it could represent the future or the unknown. The floor is the classic checkerboard, symbolizing the opposing aspects of life- the light and dark, the day and night, the yin and yang.. .'or it could be just a floor. There's also a certain opulence; it's an inlaid floor of some kind. It's all the little parts of life.