Sunday, March 16, 2008

Joy emerges



This is the story of a stained glass, it may have started long before I start the story, but most stories do. Tomato seedlings emerging at work were in my head when I headed to Telford, PA a few weeks ago for my Lenten retreat. Reflecting on Isaiah, the image of God holding me in the same manner as when I hold a seedling in the palm of my hand as I move it to a larger less crowded home. Then given some tools to play with, I made these prints....



since the previous week retreats had inspired stained glass (here and here) I imagined making a stained glass that spelled out JOY, but I didn't. The next week in Telford I was directed to do a collage, so being a good student.....




Then I was told to use my scraps to make a collage. The other man in our group had three pieces to work with, but I had plenty and it was a hoot. I loved the result more than my original...



A friend, and co-leader of the retreat, asked me to turn it upside down. A voice rang out, "I see a J." Others agreed, now I had two weeks to get JOY done. Yesterday, with 15 minutes to spare, I took this photo of the result before I headed out to my last Lenten retreat in Telford.....



I took it out of the box and hung it in a window and practiced taking compliments, and thanked them for inspiring me. The piece made it home and has been hanging in a window, which is just to my left. It did make a journey upstairs last night, and with the lights out in my studio, JOY shines out.

7 comments:

  1. I'm glad you "found your joy", but really like the way you arranged the pieces in that last collage...

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  2. Jim-- thanks, playing with those "scraps" of paper now has me playing with scraps of glass... becoming mosaic guy... you will see the results in time.

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  3. "...I see a J..." Joy for Jesus!!

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  4. Giggles--- could be, or maybe it is for homemade Jam???? I am so looking forward to singing Jesus Christ Has Risen Today this Sunday.

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  5. paceallaterra--- your welcome. thanks for visiting my blog

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