Blog

I have returned from Killer Nashville with some very exciting news, indeed. I won a Claymore Award! The award is for the best 50 first pages of an unpublished manuscript: The Stonecrafters. Next step is querying. The conference was an absolute blast, though I was disappointed at first to learn that Killer Nashville is not … Continue reading “I won an award!”

Yesterday I was listening to Episode 1 of Mary Kole’s Good Story Podcast, and Chris Baty (creator of NaNoWriMo) shared an analogy that really stuck with me. Turns out, when someone in a restaurant chokes, their immediate reaction tends to be to run to the privacy of the nearest restroom. This is, of course, the worst … Continue reading “Critiques are like choking in a restaurant”

It was wonderful to connect with other artists and art lovers during the November 5th Heart Behind the Art event at The Root Coworking Space. In addition to my portrait series (above), I shared the space with fellow artists: Here are some photos from the event! Thank you to the Indiana Arts Commission for their … Continue reading “Heart Behind the Art”

Y’all, I am inordinately excited to have my first bit of fiction published on a site that is not mine. I decided to start small, with a fifty-word story, and I submitted it to.. well… 50-Word Stories. And I made it pretty: I hope you like it 🙂 I am now working on some 400-word … Continue reading “My first fiction publication!”

My portrait painting class is in full swing! For the last three weeks I have been teaching ten poor souls over at Central Christian Church in New Albany, Indiana how to paint themselves. It is a five-week class, so they are more than halfway through. This Thursday we are going to pause our painting to … Continue reading “Teaching portrait painting”

Something’s been niggling me. I recently watched this TikTok in which a person was criticizing a prayer circle and sound bath that was being put on to grieve and pray for Ukrainian refugees. Her argument was twofold:  The Ukrainians have been very clear about what they need and it is not for us to ritualistically … Continue reading “Grace, Sound Baths, and the Ukrainian Crisis”

Would you like to write a poem with me? C’mon, it’s fun! Just grab a stack of paper and a pen. Maybe some colored pens. And some scissors. Tape, perhaps, or mod podge if you want to get fancy. I was led in this exercise during a Writer’s Club gathering I attended, and now I … Continue reading “Caught in the Algorithm”

Maiden | Mother | Crone Last year in August I was lucky enough to participate in one of the fabulous OnRamp Creative Entrepreneur Accelerator programs offered by the Indiana Arts Commission. Through this program, I learned some useful skills for developing an artist business. But the best part is that those of us who participated … Continue reading “MMC Portrait Series Update”

This week’s assignment in my spiritual direction class was to write a Collect. This is a form of short poetic prayer that helps you gather your thoughts and discern your intentions. Here are the components: Name who you are praying to – what title and moniker will you use to address God? God in what … Continue reading “Who called us good”

When I woke up this morning the cat was on my feet so I lay there thinking about the weird dream I had. Then I decided to pull a faery card to see what they had to say and I got the Dream Goblin. I thought it was staring at me but then realized its … Continue reading “Dream Goblin”

According to Newton’s first law of motion, an object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion. Unless, that is, it is acted upon by an unbalanced force. An unbalanced force. Unbalanced force. I think he meant a cat. But maybe I’m just feeling jaded since my cat woke me up … Continue reading “A Cat at Rest Never Stays at Rest”

Hark! I am selling prints of my latest painting, The Divine Shepherd. 3 ways to enjoy this painting You too can have your very own copy of this painting in the form of a greeting card, a fine art paper print (framed or unframed), or a stretched canvas print. And better yet? All proceeds will … Continue reading “Lent Painting Fundraiser”

Have you ever watched someone paint live during a worship service? Because I AM DOING THAT. My church is trying a new thing where we incorporate arts into worship – we even started a committee in order to make it happen! This is our first foray. The pastors are preaching a five-part series on Psalm … Continue reading “Painting During Worship”

My latest painting! This one is called “Intricately Woven in the Depths of the Earth” and is inspired by Psalm 139:15 and the Winter Solstice. I also wrote a poem to go with it and recite it in the video. Of course I got a word wrong. Full (correct) text is below. This painting has … Continue reading “Intricately Woven in the Depths of the Earth”

God, our country needs help. We don’t have one United States but two. Two sides torn apart by a fissure, and now we are just drifting away from each other. Politics is divided. Christianity is divided. Humanity is divided. The Divided States of America. Deliver us from this evil. I know that I must be … Continue reading “A Prayer for our Country”

In December of 2017, I was living life. I was in the beginning stages of building up my work as an artist. My website was up, and I had even started a newsletter and sent out some posts. And then I had a heart attack. My world was shaken. One of my trauma responses was to … Continue reading “Arting after a heart attack”

As a kid we had this weird, irreverent game where a bunch of us would sit around in a circle and take turns revealing how many of the ten commandments we had broken. The game was to guess which commandments each person still needed to knock off their to-do list.

(That is how the commandments work, right? Right???)

Murder was usually the freebie, but not always. There was always one kid who thought they were clever and would be like “well I killed a spider yesterday.”

How have you been feeling lately? Because I think a lot of us are afraid right now. There is, after all, so much to be afraid of. So much uncertainty – economic uncertainty, political uncertainty, health uncertainty. What are our lives going to be like on the other side of this pandemic? On the other … Continue reading “Step out of the boat”

This tree is special. Well, okay maybe the tree isn’t special, but the walk I took it on was. (All trees are special, Angie.) I snapped the photo of this tree on a hike. It’s the hike that was significant, because it was my first hike post-heart attack. The hike was hard. It was emotionally … Continue reading “The Tree of Perseverance”

The Kingdom of Heaven is like… Weeds in a wheat field (damned interlopers) A mustard seed (that grows in my backyard) Yeast hidden in dough (set it aside in a warm spot to rise) One pearl of great value (get it now for the low low cost of everything you own) The Kingdom of Heaven … Continue reading “The kingdom of heaven is like…”

Oh, goodness y’all, I need to tell you about DARNEL. I think any teacher will recognize the FEELING you get in your STOMACH whenever someone utters the name of one of Those Students. The bane of your existence. The kid whose sole purpose in life seems to be to make your classroom experience as torturous … Continue reading “Welcoming the Weeds”

So I’ve been contemplating the message(s) in the Parable of the Sower, in which a gardener tosses around a bunch of seeds with extreme abandon. Whether these seeds (the Word of God, love, peace, wisdom, enlightenment, nirvana) take root and grow depends on where they land: in the path, on rocky soil, amongst thorny bushes, … Continue reading “The problem of individualism”

I’ve been thinking a lot this morning about welcome as a spiritual practice. A deep, true welcome is more than merely being nice to others, and it goes beyond simply accepting someone into our company. Such welcome is superficial if it also has to happen on our terms, according to our timeline, and in a … Continue reading “Welcome as a Spiritual Practice”

I have finished my next painting! It’s a tiny portrait of an owl. Isn’t he cute?

Sit in a sunspot today⁣ soak up the warmth⁣ and the light⁣ ⁣ Recharge⁣ ⁣ But don’t spurn the shadows⁣ without which⁣ the sunspot⁣ would be⁣ less⁣ compelling.

Sometimes things don’t turn out like you planned. For example, that awesome painting here, of an owl in an apple tree? Well, check out the photo I was using as my guide… Yeah… Things went awry.  But here’s the thing. The final product turned out awesome! I just had to trust in the process. I … Continue reading “Some Paintings Refuse to be Painted”

Do empty canvases make anyone else anxious?Oh, the possibilities! possibilities for greatness…. possibilities for horrific errors. How do you get past those blank slate jitters? My high school art teacher taught me to do an UNDER-under painting. The first layer is to “mess it up and get that part over with.” Then you don’t feel … Continue reading “Blank Canvases and Original Sin”