Thursday 26 December 2013

seeking beauty

The pursuit of truth and beauty is a sphere of activity in which we are permitted to remain children all our lives.
Albert Einstein

Beauty is something I regularly seek.  It moves my soul, stirs up longings and calls deeply to me, drawing me into a place of creativity ~ a place where I can somehow add a part of me into the beauty that presents itself all around me.

Winter in Ontario has a beauty of its own ~ sometimes it fully presents itself in all its shimmering glory, and sometimes we must hunt for it, training our eyes to truly see what is around us.  Recently, on a rather cold day, I spent some time outside with my iphone, searching for some if its everyday loveliness.

 

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and had a chance to stop and see the beauty that continually surrounds us!

Silvia
follow me on instagram at silviaklassen 


Thursday 19 December 2013

Christmas and Bliss

Christmas is one of my favourite times of year. Despite the busyness, I savour the celebration, the excitement and the beauty of this season.  

It's miraculous, it's glorious, it's love unleashed on earth.  

My heart has been so smitten these days by the unhindered love of God and I am regularly undone in His presence ... it is blissful place to be, full of nothing but goodness.

So, needless to say, I love celebrating Christmas because I love celebrating Jesus. 

 One of my ways of celebrating includes creating Christmas decorations, and this year I have spent a lot of time on lettering.  This kind of caught me off guard since I stumbled upon some great lettering on Pinterest by artist Joanne Fink {see her blog here} which totally inspired me. But that is the way art often happens isn't it, through an unexpected moment of inspiration.

The letters were both a lot fun and much more time consuming than I expected. I wasn't really sure what to do with them once I was finished and unless I can think of a better place for them, for now they hang above the windows in our family room. 

Alas, the lighting is quite weak in our family room, and even with extra lights brought in, the quality of these pics is poor.  Nevertheless, here they are:

Have a very, very Merry Christmas and may you encounter Love like you never have before!
Silvia


Wednesday 4 December 2013

November Around Here



I can hardly believe it has been a month since I last posted! 
November was a very full month for us ... 
we went to a conference in California, 
ran a conference here at home 
{both were absolutely fabulous!} 
and celebrated my second daughter's 13th birthday ... 
twice!

 Around here we make thirteen a big deal and work hard to bless our kiddos as they transition into their teenage years. 
One of the ways we do that is through a party with some of our adult friends who speak into our new teenager's life, 
calling out the gold they see in her 
{and him one day},
and praying a blessing over our precious child. 
It has become a cherished birthday event!!

Although very busy, I haven't been inactive art-wise this month. 
One way I keep creative in busy conference season is 
during the conference ... 
yup, I draw, doodle & art journal my way through the sessions, 
taking notes around my colorful pages. 
Sometimes I prepared a few pages ahead of time 
with some acrylic paint slapped on, 
and lots of times I added colour on the spot. 
Water colour crayons & washi tape were my go-to supplies this time 
as they were easy to use on-the-spot. 

My kids were at the whole conference we hosted 
{and, by the way, they LOVED it too} 
and they doodled and drew throughout it as well, 
all the while gaining life tools, 
tools that will empower and help them all their lives!

The conference we hosted was called "Dreaming with the King".
I couldn't recommend the speakers more!  

Steve & Wendy Backlund {ignitinghope.com}
& Janine Mason {idreamculture.com
were life-changing!!

Check out their websites, 
invite them to speak, 
follow them on facebook...
 do something to connect with these people!  
They are pure gold!

So now, here are some of my conference journaling pages and doodles...   {I apologize for the quality - I was trying to post from my phone app)


            
                        
              

              
              
              

Silvia




Sunday 13 October 2013

Magical Autumn Moments

My life is filled with beauty.  Beautiful people, beautiful surroundings and many, many beautiful moments.  Yesterday I went for a hike with family and friends.  I encounter beauty in all those areas ... it was wonderful and lovely and I am so overwhelmingly thankful to Jesus for His goodness that is continually filling my moments.







Have a very happy Thanksgiving!
 {May your days be filled with beauty.}

Silvia
follow me on instagram at silviaklassen 

Wednesday 2 October 2013

This was so much fun!!

I recently tried something new!

I don't think I have ever done anything like this ... well, not exactly like this anyhow. 

And this was most definitely a lot of fun!

I had one last assignment from one of my summer courses that I wanted to complete {I have begun some new courses since then!}  If you know me at all, or have followed my blog, you know I love birds - so this assignment was right up my alley. 

I know, they aren't perfect, I can see lots of things I will do differently next time {and there will be a next time!}, but I quite like them.

I like the challenge of trying something new; I love learning new skills and seeing my world open up in bits and pieces, and when it happens, in leaps and bounds.  

As Walt Disney said, " We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths."

Here are my new little creations...




May you and I never stop moving forward, learning and trying something new!

Silvia

Thursday 26 September 2013

Seizing the Moment

“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”
― Benjamin Franklin

This past week I have had precious little time to get lost in any sort of art project as we have had several other (wonderful!) things going on in our life.  

I have learned something about myself though: that regardless of how many amazing other things are happening in my life, I need to stay connected to the world of art. I have discovered that I am a happier person ... a more cheerful mama, wife & friend when I have been creating. Because I am aware of this, I am proactive about my passion!  

I've written before about my "Art Bag" ... the bag I carry with me nearly everywhere I go (see here and here).  This past week was a week of dragging that bag around with me, and yet rarely getting a chance to open it up and dig in. However, just having it with me, helped me stay connected. And because I had it with me, I was able to snatch a few moments and begin a little water color doodle. 

I knew from the onset of the week that I would not have a lot of time, but if I had decided to leave the bag behind, I would have missed my few chances. And, because I was prepared, I was able to seize the moment and dig in!

Here is a glance into my sketchbook to see my "seizing the moment" sketch...



“I will prepare and some day my chance will come.” 
- Abraham Lincoln


Have a wonderful & prepared day!
Silvia


Monday 9 September 2013

For Mackenzie

I was recently asked if I would donate a painting to Mackenzie's Hope, a foundation that raises money to send the siblings of cancer patients to summer camp. It was a real honor as my family & I closely followed Mackenzie's 18 month battle with leukemia and daily prayed for her healing. After a valiant fight she passed from this world into the arms of Jesus last October. 

We cried & grieved and said that we would always continue to believe and fight to see "His kingdom come, His will be done on earth, as it is in heaven."  There is no cancer, no sickness and suffering in heaven ... let earth echo the ways of heaven! 

I didn't have a painting prepared that seemed suitable, so I decided to paint one dedicated Mackenzie and her courageous family. Below is the painting I created. It is a 18" x 24" acrylic in canvas.


      
     
Our Father, who is in heaven, hallowed be you name. Let your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 

Silvia

Wednesday 28 August 2013

abstract portraits & just letting go...

So much to do!  

One of the things I love about art is that the further you go, the deeper you can go. This doesn't at all surprise me because God is infinitely creative and the further I go in my relationship with Him, the deeper I can continue to go. It only makes sense that art would be that way too...

The more I spend time in my studio, the more ideas I have, the more things I want to try and the more images that constantly invade my thinking space ... I love that! Often at night, I fall asleep with pictures that I have never seen before moving across my mind's eye. How I wish I could video record them!

As you know by now, I'm busy with several on-line classes, as well as some of my own projects that I want to do. I've recently finished one of Alisa Burke's courses and here are some journal entries based on that class. 

 Before I added any colour, I drew a fast portrait with my sharpie marker, and for the most part, I did not look at my subject while I drew.

I then added some details and swirls across the page.   

Once I was satisfied with my black and white sketch, I added colour with my watercolours.  

The final step was some doodle patterns throughout the page.

Art is so much about learning to "let go" and release yourself into the process.  Alisa Burke is great at teaching methods to do just that. This was a lot of fun ... I think I might yet make some canvas paintings similar to these. 

If you are artistically stuck, this is a great way to get the ideas flowing ... give it a try!

Silvia