New Journal work

I am feeling a need to get back into my journal.....and just staying off of all the different types of social media. This vulnerable feeling comes up every so often and it seems that Facebook is where I feel most raw and exposed. I sometimes feel too available...too at the tips of fingers...so I am coming here to share my art with you. To share my feelings the best way I know how.

It's at these times, I realize that I am evolving. I crave solitude in its most raw form. To be away from the influences....to create...to talk with The Creator.....to listen.....to void out all else. To escape into nature where I hear His voice more clearly. 

Have you ever felt this need?

I feel I am talking to God without words. Stillness (through mind) and working with paint (through hands) is how He likes to talk to me. And He sometimes shows up in words when I am open and flowing.


You see as a child....manipulation, fear, and guilt were utilized. And they are still trying their best to use them on me to this date. I am realizing that those things do not belong here. They are like a square peg trying to go into a round hole. I don't have to carry around worry. I do not have to carry around fear. I do not have to carry around guilt. I do not have to carry it around because it does not belong to me. These things dim the light with a veil of darkness that makes me sick to my stomach.

Yes, I have allowed it in the past....like it had my name all over it to fix.  I've been put in the middle of it (yes by my own allowing...I'll own that)...pulled between......"oh Mindy will say something that will fix everything".......and "oh if Mindy were here things would be different". I can't fix what needs to be fixed. I can pray. Geesh, sometimes I don't even know what to pray but I pray that I can pray what needs to be prayed. It is complicated and messy. It is a life that I grew up in and I refuse to let it be my life now. It is not mine. I have created a creative, lit, happy life.....where the light is shining.

I am carrying around this light and that square peg....well I don't even have to acknowledge it anymore. Because now I am free. Because of forgiveness. Because of the love of Christ. With Him there are only round holes of love. And I will love anyway. And I will Trust. I will continue this journey of life with Light.....and round holes....and love....and faith....and all the colors of the rainbow. Because this is the path he laid for me. What a detriment to follow a path of worry, drama, defeat, guilt, and shame when His path is so clear.

I love this quote from A Course in Miracles: "Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists. Herein lies the Peace of God".

Here are my reals:
Love
Art
Faith
Trust
Peace
Poodles... :-D
Talks with God through stillness and paint
Stillness
Nature

I'm holding up my reals and yelling as loud as I can.....these cannot be threatened!!!!


Here are some things you can do when you feel the gremlins and fear coming after you:

• donate to a cause
• send a friend a letter through the mail (or a package of neat stuff that they love)
• go for a walk 
• cuddle your animals (if you have them. if you don't go visit friends that have them. cuddle)
• pray
• paint and silence that voice
• write and silence that voice
• give a compliment to a stranger
• buy the car behind you coffee

meanwhile those voices, gremlins, and fear don't know where or what to do because they don't belong in the above activities. They are immediately silenced!

Please share with me your reals and what you are grateful for in your life.....

Please also share with me, what happy things you do to ward off these fears and worries and gremlin voices.....

Paint You Peace.

I wish that I could paint you peace.
It is illusive.
And then sometimes all consuming
My hope is in the hopeful
because you are a child of the Most High God.
In His hand you have wings.

His hands wrap around you.
Engulfing you in what you thought unreachable.
You are at the top of the most high mountain
you soar
Overcoming
Overwhelmed
Loved

You become a super-hero.
Because Peace lies in the hand of God
And you are held there.
Held high
Celebrated
Becoming!

Oh I wish I could paint you Peace
But for now, I will paint
I will paint for you
for me
for all that is love and true
for my Savior
my colors point to the One.







Peace is my word for 2016. What is yours?


Poem inspired by John 1:32-34 that says:
"Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. 33And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ 34I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.”^f

Isaiah 55:12
12 You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.

A White Stag Came Near

A White Stag Came Near
I was melancholy.
So I went for a walk.
I lay in a field.
I sat up and saw a white stag.
He came near.
His eyes told me a story of my untold greatness.
He says "Greatness is in the searching.
Faithfulness is in the walk.
Forgiveness is in the Stillness.
and Surrender is in the laying down of Pride.
In your weakness you have searched Me out.
In your weakness is the Power of Eternity."

Inspired by "A Rabbit Noticed my condition" (one of my favorite poems!) by St. John of the Cross

and 2 Corinthians 12:9 that says:
And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.

print available here

a photo of a White Stag (a fallow) that I saw in the wild in texas hill country

I pulled my car over

got out of the car

He wasn't afraid of me and continued to eat grass

I whistled softly and I captured him like this.

My Valentine

My Valentine
The light you see within
The "sadness" my art encompasses
The soul revealed in the eyes
the textures
the movement
my little girl self
comes from a higher place
and He rides a horse made from all colors of the rainbow
the Love He pours down
is the same love I give to you
to my art
and I wrap you up in my arms with that Love.
because mine is His
and it's to be given away....

*the "He rides a horse made from all colors of the Rainbow is inspired by the account of Colton in the movie "Heaven is for Real"

Revalations 19:11-14

11 Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him wascalled Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. 12 His eyes werelike a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had[a] a name written that no one knew except Himself. 13 He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean,[b] followed Him on white horses.

Rainbow colors combine to form white!

Talks in pictures

Sometimes she wasn't sure of His words in the stillness
He often talked to her in pictures....
in the poodle leaned hard against her.
in the sleep/awake creating just before dawn.
in the Egyptian goose at the pond.
in the small
in the big
in the sunlight resting on the front porch
There she found His words spoken clearly

The 24 Faces Project

I am so excited to announce The 24 Faces Project for 2016. I have decided to embark on painting a face everyday for 2016. I thought why not take you on this journey for 24 faces!!

For the rest of this year we will get messy with paint. We will constrict our color palette and really work on loosening up. There will be lots to explore. The face is my favorite thing to paint and I find the more I paint, the more I discover. Come with me and let's make discoveries and happy accidents together.....

The details:

• class begins Feb 29th, 2016
• we will paint 24 faces over the course of the rest of the year. Class ends mid December.
• we will paint 2 or 3 faces per month. (with 24 faces total)
• early bird registration $129 one time fee
• 6 month payment plan available. see below for details. ($159) - early bird does not apply if you choose the payment plan
• save $30 by paying the one time fee.

• Early registration begins Jan 27th - $129
• Regular registration begins Feb 29th. - $159

Check out this little video invitation...

There is going to be lots of different faces including a boy. I have never taught how to paint a boy and am excited to show you how you can paint boys. I'll show you what colors and shapes work best with the boy face. I will show you how you can draw the boy and age him to an older boy. I have done this in my live classes at the request of a student and it was lots of fun. Plus I learned that I am no longer afraid to paint men!

                     























dick blick Paynes Gray

dick blick Titanium White

Old Holland Flesh tint

Target avocado - they may be calling in green olive now (you can also use golden's green gold)

stabilo marks all pencil in black

quin. nickel azo gold - golden

french gray/blue - liquitex

matte white - dick blick

ephemera

Dina Wakley brush set

canvas panels - 4x4, 5x7, and 6x8 sizes

blick boards - 4x4 and various other sizes. pick the size you like to work with. My suggestion is to keep it small like 4x4, 6x6, or 8x8

1 9x12 blick board - see link above

utrecht gesso or any gesso you like

spray bottle

a couple 6x6 size stencils on Stencil girl products - look for organic shapes.

robins egg - target

Salmon - ceramacoat (best to pick up at Michaels or hobby lobby)

van dyke brown hue

light magenta

stabilo graphite pencil

catalyst wedge

FAQ's

Is this class for beginner students? I would say it is for all levels, but if you have never painted before I do recommend you take either Paint Your Story, Refined and Unrefined Face, or Raw Simplicity. This will give you a firm foundation of faces to work from. They are also very affordable and can be worked through fairly quickly.

Do I have to have the exact colors that you are using in the supply list?  No, I definitely want you to use what you have on hand. I do however, want you to know most of the colors i'll be using so that you can try them out if you choose. The main colors that are the most important are the quin. nickel azo gold, avocado (or green gold), fiery red (neon), and paynes gray. The others can certainly be substituted.

If I sign up for the 6 month payment plan, can I bow out at anytime?  This payment plan is set up for those who want to break up the payments in more manageable chunks. This is not a subscription based class. 

Can I share the password to the class? Please don't share the class info or share passwords.

Can I sell my artwork that I make in class? Sure thing! If you like, please share that you took my class. Your artwork is my best form of marketing. 

Will there be a Facebook group? Yes! We will be sharing mostly there. I know that some of you have been limiting your Facebook activity but just know that the group will be private and only the students in the class will be able to see your work. Please share. If you don't feel comfortable sharing that is ok too....but I will tell you this....it is always a lovely, supportive  group and you'll make lots of friends there.

365 faces challenge!

I am embarking on a journey this year to paint a face everyday. So after 26 days in, here is what I have learned:

• the more I paint, the easier it gets
• the more I paint, the harder it gets
• sometimes I don't want to paint
• most days I LOVE painting
• on the days I don't want to paint, I am glad I took the time at the end of the day
• the faces don't always come easy. 
• how do I paint a different face every time?
• how can I make it different?
• I must stay true to myself

Only 341 more to go....this year is a leap year so it looks like I'll be doing 366.

So here they are....well the first 25, anyways:

If you want to keep up via instagram, follow me there at mindy_lacefield.

You can also check out these hashtags: #365faces #afaceadaychallenge