Selah (say-la) Place

This picture was taken in front of my friend Terri's home. I didn't know what Selah meant so I asked Terri. She said it meant to pause and reflect. So when I got home I decided to look up the word. It is a Hebrew word and actually has several meanings according to sources on google. The one that sounded like the most common interpretation meant "a dramatic pause or change of tempo - stop and listen". It is used many times in the Psalms.

The second most used interpretation meant "measured against" or "valued". Here the translation "valued" is used to illustrate the meaning of something for an exchange, i.e., wisdom cannot be measured with the gold of Ophir. It is BEYOND value. In other words, it is beyond comparison or measuring against.

What a wonderful way to describe my visit to Terri's home ~ A Time to Pause and Reflect ~ A Place of Value Beyond Measure. Not only did her home exhude this sentiment but also our time spent together. I am so thankful for friends like Terri with a willingness to take time to nuture friendship. May you be blessed with such friendships, until next time I wish you PEACE............

Natural Therapy

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh......isn't that how most people feel when they have a great retreat time in nature? I just returned from a week in the Colorado mountains. The beauty and spendor of the mountains, pine and aspen trees and the swiftly flowing water over the huge boulders can literally take my breath away, and bring tears to my eyes!! I am awed by the beauty, but like most people life gets busy and I forget about taking time to slow down.

While I was in the mountains I spent some time with a long time friend and got to renew and refresh our relationship. It was a wonder to see how each of us had weathered this journey we call life and how much we both had changed because of it. It reminded me how life really is, for me, all about relationships. Without them life would be meaningless. Not that our jobs and other things we do aren't important, but that without some close realtionships all of that would be pretty unfullfilling.

I hope you are having a GREAT summer and take some time to renew and refresh yourself!

A Peek Into The Creative Process Here At Art Pod Studios

Many times when people look at the things I have made they want to know, how did you ever come up with that? Well, believe it or not there actually is a method to my madness ;) It almost always starts with an emotional response I have had to something I have either heard or seen. When an emotional chord is struck in me that usually gets my creative juices flowing. Sometimes I just start sketching or trying new ways to do a familiar project. When this "emotion based" art project begins to feel and look like what I have imagined in my mind's eye, I know how I want it to look when I am finished and just what I need to do to "tweak" the design a little.

Another avenue for creating that I have stepped into lately is a book I discovered called "Caffeine For The Creative Mind". This book has some really great ideas to help you open up your creative thoughts and try new art experiments. I try to do at least 3 creativity exercises a week. I believe it's true what one of the chapters in the book said about creativity being a muscle, and that to make it stronger you have to exercise it.