Showing posts with label bunny. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bunny. Show all posts

Saturday, 24 May 2014

Consider the Dandelion

Today "Inspiring Felicity" welcomes a guest writer... 
my Dad, Brian V. Sullivan.

Without further ado...


Consider the dandelion...
     Organic evolution cannot account for its skills to advance through these various cycles and then be preserved by the sending forth of seeds. The plant could not have randomly done this, for it would have perished long before it accomplished that.
    
    Every dandelion goes through the same cycle over and over in its given lifetime. John H. Gerstner declares that “Its very survival demonstrates a built in characteristic of preservation and continuation.”  The plant itself does not have a brain but yet functions with deliberate action toward a definite end. God alone is the answer to this “purpose” that is so evident.
    
    How does it know when to cease being a flower bloom and become a seed-bearing plant? Either there is an intelligent Cause behind this plant and its creation or it just happened. If it just happened, how did it happen to exist long enough to do what it is known for doing: budding, blooming and dispatching multitudinous seeds for new plantations?


    When you see a dandelion think of how it came into being and what it is that makes it bud, bloom and become a virtual seed house. It exudes design in its very nature of moving from bloom to seed dispersal unit.
Without human intervention, just grand design, the dandelion greets each spring visitor and heralds the truth: There is a God and He made me!

    Without human interference the dandelion has gone through generation after generation of growing, blooming and seeding. Yet, the basic plant itself remains the same suggesting clearly the “fixity of species”. Yes, there may be different variables in the plant, but the basic structure and development remains the same throughout the species. This demonstrates “purpose”.

   Only one reasonable explanation remains for the persistence, tenacity, and continual supply of generations of dandelions– God made them in the first place, and gave them a role to play in the natural realm.

    Imagine if man had declared the dandelion a flower rather than a noxious weed? They are one of first harbingers of spring, a yellow orb of sunshine, a ready bouquet for little boys and girls to pick, a virtual salad and to some other purposes that we will leave untold. How could something so useful be classified as a weed?

    Did you realize the dandelion in rapid succession reminds us of the fleeting nature of our life? It begins as a young and tender plant, then advances to maturity and blooming, then it advances to silvery-grey and ultimately a precious part of it “flies away” much as the Scriptures suggest we do (Psalm 90:10).  In spite of dying it lives on.

Every flower has its season, is this your day to shine in God’s sight? 

Sunday, 3 February 2013

Let us love one another...




    ♥ Cath-



P.S. This is a watercolour I made for an anniversary card in 2012... 
I added the Scripture for my post today.


Saturday, 14 July 2012

Campfire - Preliminary Sketch

"Campfire"
Preliminary Sketch
(H/HB graphite, sketchbook)

    I was talking with a friend this past week about how much her family looks forward to campfires in the backyard and making S'mores over the open flame... She then said I should make a picture of several woodland animals sitting around a campfire making S'mores...  I could see it all in my mind the moment she mentioned it and so I grabbed my sketchbook when I got home and worked up this sketch.  Like the preliminary sketch of Nicholas in his shop of antiquities light and shadow are very important in creating the proper atmosphere...
    I may be working this one as a painting while displaying my artwork at the Jordan Musuem grounds (3800 Main Street, Jordan) on Saturday, July 28th from 10am - 6pm.  The town of Lincoln has created an 'Art in the Village' day in participation with the "Niagara: Cultural Capital of Canada" program for 2012.  I submitted some artwork and was selected so I will have some of my acrylic work there and many of my watercolours... nothing is for sale - it is a display show only - I am looking forward to seeing you all there!

    ♥ Cath-    

Tuesday, 10 July 2012

Drawing in the Shade - Take 2

"Drawing in the Shade"
(watercolour, approx. 8x8")

    I sat down to work on the ideas I had after completing the original "Drawing in the Shade" and this is what I accomplished... it's more interesting now with a few more objects of interest... it feels more peaceful.
The bunny is doing what he enjoys in a comfortable spot in the yard....

    Here are a couple details from the painting:




I definitely enjoy this painting more than the original...

Happy, less humid days to paint really help!
Cath-

Saturday, 7 July 2012

Drawing in the Shade

"Drawing in the Shade" 
(watercolour, 4x4", cropped detail)


    We don't have central-air in our house and this last week has made us all feel slug-like in our thoughts and activities... We have traveled to area malls to enjoy an hour of air-conditioning and tried to stay still for long periods of time so as not to be in a constant state of "sweat".
    Above is a portion of a watercolour doodle I made while still in the mode of thinking cooling thoughts (see also: "Meeting in the Middle") and had the energy to sit at my art table without risk of sweat droplets falling on my painting! :)
    Sitting under a big shade tree where the air is clear and light, the sun is warm but the temperature under the thick foliage is several degrees cooler than in direct sun... Perfect atmosphere for inspiring thoughts!  
   I don't know if I like the complete doodle... actually I know I don't prefer it - yet.  Looking at it now I know I need to put more into it... more options for the bunny to have chosen from... why did he choose to lean up against the knobbly bark of the big tree when there was a beautiful l'il settee full of plump cushions just over there?  These are the kind of after-thoughts I have had... so this is only a doodle and one day soon I will create a more complete story picture showing more details....  Here is the complete drawing so you can see what I mean:

    The hint of a setteee just over by the climbing rose would be better and maybe even a brightly coloured ball over to the left in the middle ground to have given bunny more options showing his choice of sitting in the shade to draw over running around kicking a ball.... Hmmm, I tend to grow and stretch with every doodle and drawing, always questioning, what more could have been done to make this more complete, more interesting....  and these mental musings are enough for me to accomplish in this heat! :)

    As I type these last few words I hear thunder outside - could we have a welcome relief from the humidity and high temperatures?? Mayhaps after the storm we will be blessed with a perfect atmosphere for more inspiring thoughts!!  Thanks be to God!!

    ♥ Cath- 

Thursday, 5 April 2012

Inspiring Felicity


 "Springtime Joys"
Acrylic on 12"x12" stretched canvas

    Felicity, according to www.dictionary.com, is the state of being happy, especially in high degree; bliss, also, an instance of happiness. 
    The spontaneous ‘spark’ of inspiration elevates my spirits to this state – that crazy feeling that has me looking for any scrap of paper I can find just to get the idea jotted down while it’s still fresh!  Some sparks being so strong that just getting it on paper is not enough, I need to take it further, develop it into something more, something tangible…. These big creative sparks can become paintings, sculptures or even baked goods - whatever expresses it best – and my mind doesn’t completely settle until it has exhausted the idea to the best of my abilities. I guess it’s fortunate that these BIG sparks don’t happen all the time otherwise I would never get any housework done!
    Most often I push myself to stay creative. When I sit down in the evening I grab my sketchbook to doodle and sketch.  Sometimes I block in time to paint and tell myself, “Let go and just go with it, see where this takes you.”  Hey, you never know one day, that one pencil stroke in my sketchbook may be what spurs on an idea and another BIG spark is created…
    No matter how the inspiration comes, when it’s in me I always find myself quoting Marianne Dashwood in Jane Austen’s  'Sense & Sensibility', “Is there any felicity in the world superior to this?”