1000 Gifts 641-660

641)  Thanksgiving memories in Rockwall
642)  Kids helping set the table

643)  Visits from old friends
644)  Noticing how fast kids grow

645)  Talking about college with my daughter
646) Talking baseball with my son

647) A 4 day weekend
648)  Thanksgiving 

649)  Duke's amazing pecan pie
650) Crisp air smelling like wet leaves

651)  Staying home
652) Not shopping on Black Friday

653) The sound of our puppy running on the wood floor
654) My phone going through the washer and not having to answer it now

655) Making a Christmas ornament
656) Post lighting our pre-lit tree with Duke

657) Decorating for Christmas
658) Seeing my kids make wise and good choices

659) Liking my kid's choices in friends
660) Looking at my home and family and feeling my heart about to burst with thankfulness

1000 Gifts 621-640

621) Humility
622) Encouraging blogs that inspire me
623) Waking up
624) No back pain
625) Balance
626) Rhythm
627) Hearing thank you
628) Saying I love you
629) Paw Paw's Birthday dinner
630) Courtney's show
631) Being surprised by her
632) Having family there for support
633) Seeing them have fun
634) Hope
635) Patience
636) Wonder
637) Perseverance
638) Honesty
639) Endings
640) Beginnings

My Art Goes to Italy

A church community in 
Italy used art from my Parable Paint Series as inspiration for a fun evening of food, fellowship and creativity.
The painting they chose was the Parable of the Sower... 

from 

Matthew 

13:1-23

illustrating four kinds of soil; or ways people respond to Christ.  

These are photos from the night they got together to do their group art project.

I loved seeing the variety of ages of people working on the project together.  


Each of them painted a section of 

the original design.  

When they were finished, they were able to put them
all together ..

to

create 

the entire

image. 

 

What 


they


created


was


not



only


a


unique


piece


of 


art 


. . .







but


       also










a 

     beautiful 


                 experience!





Even though this all happened in Italy... I feel by sharing my art as the inspiration for their project,  I was also there.

 

Since I was not...
I had to miss out on their delicious food.  
Yum!   






I am so happy to share their creative spirit with all of you.  BE INSPIRED !!!

1000 Gifts 601-620

601) My Dad, a WWII Veteran who served on Iwo Jima, Sipan and Tinian.  Thank you Dad. I love you!
602) Freedom
603) A Future
604) A Legacy to pass on to our children
605) A Heritage
606) The death of pain
607) My family
608) Computers
609) New friends
610) Laughter
611) Joy
612) Hope
613) Washed dishes

614) A laundry machine
615) Warm clothes
616) Light shining out from the edge of a cloud today...
617) Getting to tell a woman at work this week that an anonymous cash donation of $1000.00 was applied to her electric bill.
618) Gratitude
619) Autumn
620) November

1000 Gifts 581-600

581) Creative motivation

582) Finishing a brand new painting
583) Something to celebrate
584) Joy
585) Welcoming our new family member...
586) Titus
587) Our new furry little puppy
588) Family moments
589) Bonding
590) Love
591) A change of season
592) Time
593) Rest
594) Comfort
595) Home
596) Kids doing their chores
597) A day without constant pain
598) The massage bed...aaaahhh
599) Finding an awesome chiropractor
600) A plan for wellness

1000 Gifts 561-580

561) A painting for my pumpkin pal from Cheryl! 
562) New friends at my new job
563) new hire training class 
564) Candy Corn
565) Finding joy in learning something new
566) Fall
567) Family at home
568) My daughter making dinner
569) Chilli weather
570) Sharing my art with people
571) Perfect timing
572) Carpooling

573) Baseball moms
574) 13U AAA Baseball! Go Vipers!
575) Middle school football games
576) Snuggling under a blanket
577) Warm toast
578) Duke surprising me with a frap when he picked me up from my work.
579) Back rubs
580) Hugs

1000 Gifts 541-560

541) Three generations of Ranger fans

542) A great weekend watching my son play baseball
543) Family
544) Refocusing
545) Online learning
546) Solitude
547) Friendships
548) Watching responsibility grow in my kids
549) My Dad

550) Help from my family after going back to work full time

551) Growth

552) Having enough

553) Challenges

554) Knowing there will be time to paint soon

555) Support and encouragement from others

556) Believing
557) Learning

558) Loving

559) Living

560) Dreams

1000 Gifts 521-540

521) Ice Tea
522) Liking where I work
523) A weekend to catch up on things
524) Fall
525) The changing weather

526) My nephews giggling
527) A visit from my dad
528) A visit from a cousin
529) Watching my son play middle school football
530) Poking bruises

531) Morning drives to work with my daughter
532) Telling my kids I am proud of them
533) The color pink
534) Old work friends
535) New work friends

536) Making people smile
537) Friday lunch with Duke
538) A family
539) Dinner with my Dad at Palazio's
540) Hearing my Dad's story

1000 Gifts 501 - 520

501) Physical pain
502) Empathy for others
503) Struggles
504) Endurance and strength in the midst of the next one
505) Annoyances
506) Persevering patience
507) Witnessing the mistrust planted by others indulging in gossip
508) Conviction and resolve to earn trust by avoiding it
509) Seeing a friend win
510) Watching my children succeed
511) Joy from investing in their lives
512) Independent kids
513) Laundry
514) A great Vipers Win this week
515) Trying your best
516) Seth Godin's blog
517) Appreciation for how Steve Jobs has changed our lives
518) Training at work
519) Online learning
520) A future

1000 Gifts 481-500

481) Starting work at CoServ
482) Making new friends
483) A 7 minute commute
484) Being worth waiting for
485) Being believed in
486) 6:30am football practice
487) Watching Caleb's football game
488) Fall
489) Kids bringing home good grades
490) Shopping with Courtney
491) Finding the perfect dress
492) Homecoming
493) Being able to trust my kids
494) My awesome husband
495) A cleaned kitchen
496) My sister
497) Family
498) Something to strive for
499) Time to read
500) Time to just be quiet

1000 Gifts 461-480

461) My last day at work
462) Well wishes from co workers 
463) Their smiles saying we are happy for you
464)  Me smiling back and knowing there are better things coming for them too
465) Motivating people (people who motivate me)
466) Motivating people (being able to motivate other people)
467) Laughing at jokes
468) Our kid's doctor 
369) Bronchitis
470) Folded laundry

471) Having just enough
472) Not more
473) Not less
474) A new book club
475) Women speaking beautiful thoughts
476) Insights shared 
477) Silence
478) Not even the sound of crickets
379) Liking the silence and not wanting it to end
480) Being still

1000 Gifts 441-460

441) Fountains
442) Watching kids eat ice cream cones
443) Making a tough decision, but knowing it is right
444) Finding home grown tomatoes 

445) Seeing a child's growing independence 

446) Watching father and son wrestling

447) Weekend

448) Courtney driving herself to Thoroughly Modern Millie
449) Ideas for painting
450) Duke's birthday
451) Nook friends to share books with
452) RAIN
453) Knowing what to do next
454) New e friends from Uruguay
455) Brunch with my dear friend

456) Celebrating long term relationships
457) Something beautiful
458) Something magical
459) A long suffering hope that will not die

460) Faith while waiting

1000 Gifts 421-440

421) Duke sharing my art with people in Uruguay
422) Their beautiful art work
423) Sharing my story
424) Helping my friends 
425) Friends helping me
426) Laughing
427) Caleb loving football
428) Courtney loving Thoroughly Modern Millie
429) Finally getting her schedule straight for junior year!
430) Finding a great company
431) with great people
432) who think like I do
433) A great interview
434) And a new job to start in 2 weeks
435) Courtney assisting with a dance class
436) and giving advice about dance shoes
437) to little dancers and their mommies
438) A freshly cleaned bathroom
439) The joy of inspiring others 
440)  with words and art

Lemonade Stand

I had to make a visual image or presentation for a leadership class I'm in at my work that communicated something that needed to change about the company I work for.  I tried to think about what I would most like to change about where I work... and there were so many things.... I couldn't pick just one. So, I decided the thing I would most like to change would be me working there.  I made resignation video.  My dream is to quit my job and stay home and paint all day long every day.  This video is for all the lemons out there who feel the same way.  Be apples...before you get all your juice squeezed out! 

1000 Gifts 401-420

401) Positive comments from my kid's teachers... so far.
402) Seeing old friends at parent teacher conference night
403) A friend going out of her way for me 
404) Being in the right place at the right time
405) Rest when I am weary
406) Strength when I have none
407) A quiet evening to spend reading
408) Duke's hamburgers
409) Five sold paintings last week
410) Provision 
411) Perfect timing
412) Hugs
413) Coffee with friends
414) Amazing women I am thankful to be friends with
415) Conversations I leave feeling rejuvenated from
416) Perspective
417) Music at CBC last Sunday
418) Kids doing the dishes together
419) Time with son at 6:30 AM every morning
420) Sleep

Aspens for the Olsons Finshed

I loved finishing up these bright Aspen trees.  Ready for hanging in their new home for my friends the Olsons.  

Aspens for The Olsons (final)
by Cheryl Harris White
18" x 24" each (3 panels)
Acrylic

1000 GIIFTS 381-400

381)  Courtney's school getting a new drama and art teacher.  We are so thankful we made this choice for her high school years and looking forward to an amazing year.

382) Her developing leadership skills.  I love what a strong person she is becoming.

383) Caleb's great start as a 7th grader at a new Middle School.

384) His maturity and independence amazes me daily.

385)  My kids motivation to make good grades this year

386) Positive attitudes

387) Discipline

388) Paintings getting finished

389) Friends who encourage my artistic pursuits

390) Friends who challenge me to deepen the roots of my soul 

391) Hello Hugs

392) Another idea to paint

393) Sharing my art with people around the world

394) A new opportunity to share my art in Uruguay

395) Rest before a long night ahead at work

396) A Job for today.

397) My Nook Color!

398) Connection

399) Conversation

400) Looking into the straight in the eye of the future and feeling absolute calm.

1000 Gifts 361-380

 (Family Vacation)
361) Visiting my Dad in Minnesota
362) Seeing my kids chat with their grandpa
363) Two sunny, sparkling days in Duluth
364) Lunch with Dad at the top of the Radison and ice cream at Portmans!
365) The nicest man working at the awesome Schlotzkys downtown Duluth
366) Playing in the sand at Park Point 
367) Wading in Lake Superior... the water was so cold it made our feet numb
368) Peddling a 4 person surrey Lake Superior Canal Park 
369) Watching a boat come in
370) Sounds of seaguls
371) Skipping rocks 
372) Remembering summer days spend there with my mom and sister 
373) Gooseberry Falls hike
374) Going to the cabin in Cable, Wisconsin nestled in a circle of 50 foot tall pine trees.
375) Reuniting with cousins
376) Belly Laughter around the dining table
377) Seeing my kids play with cousins and making them friends
378) There is something so comforting and familiar about being around people who have known you since you were small.
379) Milking the last drops out of the summer with the Wisconsin side of the family...Doing a scavenger hunt, Pinecone Pete story, Big Foot, Keep A Way, Kick ball refereed by Duke, Toy airplanes and The hammock, Delicious food, Poolside chats...all memories made for keeps
380) The four beautiful deer bidding us goodbye as we drove away the last morning.

Aspens for the Olsons Day 2

Aspens
by Cheryl Harris White
Acrylic on Three canvases
18 x 24 " each

Day 1 Aspens for the Olsons

This is the beginning of a commission piece I've been needing to get done.  It is for a precious family that has been so encouraging to me in pursuing my art.  They needed three canvases to hang in a row above their couch in their living room... and they love Aspens!  I researched Aspens first and came across a few things that you may find interesting...

One was a poem sent to me from a friend  titled 

"Binsey Poplars" 

by  Gerard Manley Hopkins (1879)

My aspens dear, whose airy cages quelled,

Quelled or quenched in leaves the leaping sun,All felled, felled, are all felled;
Of a fresh and following folded rank
Not spared, not one
That dandled a sandalled
Shadow that swam or sank
On meadow and river and wind-wandering weed-winding bank. 
O if we but knew what we do
When we delve or hew— 
Hack and rack the growing green!
Since country is so tender
To touch, her being so slender,
That, like this sleek and seeing ball
But a prick will make no eye at all,
Where we, even where we mean
To mend her we end her,
When we hew or delve:
After-comers cannot guess the beauty been.
Ten or twelve, only ten or twelve
Strokes of havoc unselve
The sweet especial scene,Rural scene,

The other thing which really inspired me to go ahead and paint was this little story from a Tree Legend website   

Aspen 
Populus tremuloides 
This tree was referred to as ~Distinguished man or wood.~ In Old Irish, the word for ~wood~ and the word for ~knowledge~ came from the same root. The leaves of the Aspen tree were believed to tremble, hence it is also known as the ~Shivering Tree.~ The Greek word ~kepkis,~ which means ~shuttle~ was given to this tree because of the movement of the leaves. 

It is believed that the cross on which Christ was crucified was made from the wood of the Aspen tree. The tree was filled with grief and remorse at being connected with the Crucifixion. The Aspen was the only tree reputed not to bend but to tremble as a result. 

According to a legend from Germany, the Holy Family was walking in a forest and all the trees bowed. The only tree that didn't was the Aspen. Seeing this Christ cursed the tree, and the leaves began to tremble and have continued to do so ever since. 

The movement of Aspen leaves have been associated with women's tongues. Aspen is said to cure fevers, as it was believed to have curative powers. The nail clippings of the sick person were placed in a hole cut in the trunk that was covered again to seal the tree. This was effective only if it was carried out at night.

In the language of flowers the Aspen Tree symbolizes Lamentation; Sighing 

I began to paint . . .

Day 1 of Aspens
for the Olson Family
I'm not done yet...
                 ... more to come

A Conversation With My Canvas

For three weeks I have not painted... 
My well was dry and creativity would not flow.  


I waited... 


       and dead silence... 


nothing gushed forth to the surface.  


I could not force a drop, and the barren canvas sat lonely on my easel.  


                                       It cried out to me...

I know 
    I must.... 


         But what?    


                  What is worth painting?

Trees?  Just trees again?

                 Yes my Spiritual sister says... 

                                 "Paint the Aspens".

Yes, You will become ART... soon.

                             And you, all my friends, 

                                              Like my easel, You also have been waiting. 

Waiting for a post with a painting.  

I hear and you will have it soon  I am inspired and paint is flowing, and soon 

                            you shall see The Aspens!

1000 Gifts 341-360

An Artist's List continued...
341) Brunch w/ a friend I hadn't seen in 3 years
342) A spiritual sister
343) Timely words touching my soul
344) Aspen tree inspiration
345) Leaves trembling in the air
346) Colors shining in the sun
347) Encouragement in the dry spell
348) Friends who put wind in my sails
349) 1000 Gift group study sisters going to see my art
350) Beauty in nature
351) Created by our Creator
352) Pausing
353) Refreshing
354) Deep breaths
355) Learning to overcome resistance
356) Valleys ... 
357) that help us appreciate the view when we are through them
358) Focus, Drive and Inspiration to paint
359) Relief from the heat
360) My Dad's enthusiasm at our soon coming

1000 Gifts 321-340

An Artists list continues, a bit late this week.

321) Stepping Heavenward by Elizabeth Prentice
322) Discipline
323) Football camp
324) Courtney's audition
325) Hello Dolly at MCL Grande Theater
326) Our Anniversary, 21 years
327) Having Courtney help me in my art class last week
328) Encouragement
329) Plans to visit my Dad
330) Love in our home
331) Duke fixing our AC!
332) Electricity
333) Insight
334) Understanding why we give thanks
335) Catch ups with friends
336) Understanding loss
337) Understanding giving and receiving
338) Knowing God is good
339) Believing it also

1000 Gifts 301-320

An Artist's List Continues...

301) Daughter's homemade birthday wish to her little brother

302) Son turning 13

303) Students in my art class creating

304) Thick paint, heavy a canvas 

305) Wednesday evening dinners at CBC

306) Shots

308) My kid's friends

309) Enough work

310) Enough rest

311) The Acting Studio's summer student production

312) and the beautiful story it told

313) of grace

314) of redemption

315) and of love

316) Courtney's solo and beautiful gift she shared on stage

317) Laura's singing

318) Laughter and tears at the same time

319) Standing ovation, applause and cheers celebrating

320) The beauty of Les Miserables