What the mind of the believer struggles to put into words is in many cases a futile attempt to describe the indescribable. If you pay attention to the posture and face of the one praying, it is apparent the soul is speaking far better than the words being used. Eloquent words and long detailed prayer is often an attempt to convince God of the need within the prayer. Simple words from the heart, to the point and uncluttered, are more pleasing and more what our Lord wants from us. He knows better than us the details that fit the need. All of the reasoning in the world will not convince Him that we deserve something. He provides what we need and gives us what we are due as He sees fit. That is not to say a prayer will not be granted. You may have to repeat your prayer often. Matthew 7:7-8 states “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened."(New American Standard Bible). Hope not coupled with prayer is an exercise in futility in my book. Far too often an unspoken prayer has been answered whereas spoken prayers were not. If a simple prayer is voiced and the soul is in agreement the sound of prayer carries to heaven and is heard. There is no pretense in the soul. No deceit or hiding place. All is open and pure. It is not clouded with the muddy waters of this world but the clear, pure dwelling place of our Lord within us. Prayer, especially the sound of prayer from within, is always heard. Your will be done and not mine, Lord. Amen
The time has come to show the results of the stencil project. This has been my project for several months. First, here is the stencil used to provide the base for this colored image. Simple enough isn't it? NOT!!!! It is not the way of this crafter to do things the easy way. As Jill most often says, " You are a brute for punishment." So what is new? Chuckle!! Where is the fun in boring? LOL.
Here is the Stencil called "Free Spirit". It is from PRIMA and the artist is Jamie Dougherty. It is roughly 6.75 X 11 inches (180mm X 280mm). That is a width and height measurement. I loved this image from the first time I saw it. It lends itself to the rebel within and the native american. I WILL NOT do this one too often but it is fun to do.
Here is the finished stencil. The hair was a major consideration. I settled on black, although that presented challenges in itself. Black is a greater challenge for me than the other hair colors.
The colors are slightly off true. I am looking for a way to true up the onscreen color with the real colors. There are utilities to do this but it also requires specific hardware. This reminds me, if anyone has problems reading a post, mine or otherwise, you can hold down the CTRL button and use the scroll wheel on your mouse to enlarge or reduce the size of the window, and thus the font, you are viewing.
I just realized the "r" and "t" in the word Spirit on the image are transposed. OOOPS!!!! Smile.
Skin: E41, R0000, R000, R00
Eye: B000, Boo, Copic Black 0.05 Multi liner
Lips: R81, R21
Head Band: #11 Gold atyou Spica pen, Copic Black 0.05 Muti liner
Feathers: B16, B21, B23, E42, E81, T10, 100
Flowers and Stems: YG63, Y14, Y67, YR24, YR31, G29, E09, E23, C29, R00, R27, R29, R39, R46, Copic Black 0.05 Multi liner
Hair: C2, C4, C6, C8, Copic Black 0.05 Multi liner
This image was both a challenge and fun to do. It turns out the skin shading was easier than expected as was the hair to some degree. The hair detail was tedious to say the least. That took several days.
Hope you enjoyed your visit today. Thank you so much for dropping by. Remember to always Love The Details and correct the mistakes. LOL. God Bless.
Fantastic work with the stencil. I often have to go back and correct mistakes where I've left a letter or something out - no big tragedy! Have a great day, hugs, Valerie
ReplyDeleteFabulous stencil and beautiful colouring. The finished result looks amazing!
ReplyDeleteChris
x
This a beautiful project! Have a great weekend! Blessings!
ReplyDeleteWhat beautiful coloring, Jim! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteAmazing! I know how much time and work went into this...You did a fabulous job!
ReplyDeleteJim this is a stunner - well worth the effort! OIt's good to see you back blogging too.
ReplyDeleteBlessings
Maxine
BRILLIANT Jim love this stencil and no big deal re the missing letters, it gives one a bit of a laugh Thank you for that...hugs.xx {aNNie}
ReplyDeleteI never realized so much detail could be put into a stenciled image, but this is amazing! I love to interchange die-cut pieces, so I get the intricate work involved in this, but I find it relaxing and calming as you most likely do too. It turned out to be pretty amazing!
ReplyDeleteFirst, will address this very insightful post. Good thoughts on prayer. Someone told me, prayer is not like an "inbox" on God's desk. You pray for what you need, remember to be thankful for what you've received! He knows what you need, so you don't have to keep asking him. So I was glad to be reminded of the verses from Matthew, as I have a bad tendency, to want to keep reminding about what I was praying for! (But He understands my weaknesses!). Simple prayers are more effective I think, and again, it's needful to be thankful for the blessings He's sent - either asked or unasked. And prayers don't always bring the answer you wanted. Usually in looking back, the answer was BETTER but perhaps different than what you thought you wanted. I find that true, anyway. Now to your stencil. You are a brave crafter to tackle that much complexity. The finished result is spectacular, and the shading is splendid with the colors. Black and red are the 2 hardest copic colors for me to get right. And with the corner buckling, tape will hold it pretty flat! So good to hear from you and wishing the Mrs. IC a very specially Happy Mom's Day. TFS & best to you both. (and I didn't notice the transposition til it was pointed out!) too busy admiring the other work!!!
ReplyDeleteWonderfully said- the thoughts about prayer! Many times, I wonder whether my posture matters for my prayer to be heard. But now can connect with the soul matters!! Thanks for explaining Jim. Hopped from Grace's blog. It's been a while since I posted any thing on blog land. And, beautiful colouring too :)
ReplyDeleteAmazing. Yet again you take my breath away.
ReplyDeleteLove, hugs and blessings,
Em x
I've never seen a stencil like that & you've colored so beautifully, Jim! Thanks for stopping by my blog. Wishing you a great week!
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely GORGEOUS! Wow! Love all the wonderful details and the stencil itself. I never knew you could use a stencil like this. You did a wonderful job on coloring her too! Love her hair. So much patience and it all paid off just beautiful.
ReplyDeleteLynn
Oh, Jim, prayer is such a precious blessing that we have the gift of being able to come to the Father through Christ and bring our praises and requests. And, yes, not all prayers are "answered" in the way we wish, but according to our Father's will. Oh, what a joy to know that HE and HE alone is in control, because I surely don't always ask for the right things...but He does. I so love the amazing stencil and the absolutely gorgeous picture you've made with it. Your coloring is gorgeous! And, yes, I do think this will be a one or two of a kind! And you are very patient, but it's well worth all the work you put into it. Wishing you and Jill a blessed week and sending hugs and love!
ReplyDeleteI am learning and have soooooo much to learn abt prayer. Thank you for this meditation.
ReplyDeleteYour project is absolutely amazing! As others have mentioned, I also had no idea stencils could be used this way. Awesome work!
<3 J
jwoolbright at gmail dot com
HerPeacefulGarden.blogspot.com
My gosh! You did this stencil proud! This is stunning work and fabulous words to ponder on.
ReplyDeleteOh, boy, it's been ages since I last visited!!!! What a great pleasure to pop in again!!
ReplyDeleteSuch wonderful words of wisdom on prayer, Jim!!!! As always you provide so much to think about!!!! TFS!!!!
Never have I seen anythingbdone with a stencil, like you have done here, Jim!!!! Oh, it must have taken hours to do and such a lot of patience!!!! Every little line is perfectly done and the colouring is just brilliant!!!! So beautiful and simply amazing!!!!
Hugz