art

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Blue Will Always Be Blue

A few weeks ago we drew and painted disco balls in Art class. The final step was to splatter their creations with fluorescent paint. I handed them colors one by one as they requested them. All was going as planned until one student asked for green. I handed him green. He insisted it was blue. When I handed him blue he insisted it was green. I eventually had him point to the color he wanted instead of naming them. There was no reasoning with him. He was sure he was right and would not be convinced otherwise. The problem? He was color blind. He wouldn’t believe the truth I was telling him. He didn’t believe there was anything wrong with his “vision”.

Being color blind can be inconvenient. We once had a builder put two pieces of siding up that didn’t match the rest. When I asked him about it he explained he was color blind. He needed me to point out which ones were the wrong color so he could correct his mistake.

When someone has faulty vision is it kinder to keep quiet or to help them see their error? Does believing blue is green make it so?

I can be blind to the truth too. I want something and so will adjust the “rules” to justify my wrong thinking. Oh well. What is the harm? As long as I’m not hurting anyone why not bend the truth to suit my wants, even going so far as doing away with inconvenient truth.

God has lovingly laid out truth for us, not because He is a cosmic kill joy, but because He, as our creator, knows what we were made for. Just like blue was made to paint the sky…we have a choice to follow His plan or follow our own plan.

Will we say, “No” to the God who made us because we think we are wiser? Will our goal be to satisfy whatever we think will make us happy, or because we want what we want and have become our own god?

The cost to follow Christ is real. He paid the ultimate cost of our redemption. Out of love we follow Him with every fiber or our being. Willing to give up whatever He asks, willing to follow His truth instead of my own. Do we love Him enough to trust Him with the rules He has put in place?

Truth does not change. Blue will always be blue.

For Further Study: Isaiah 5:20; Luke 11:28; Philippians 2:15

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Lessons from Art Class

“I don’t want to make a sea otter.” One of my younger art students proclaimed. She was looking instead at the camouflaged deer which was a complicated project made in the class before. I had materials ready for the sea otter. The materials for the deer had been used up with the previous class. “We are doing the sea otter.” I explained. “That project was for the older class.”

She insisted, and one after another of her classmates voiced their objections to doing sea otters. Funny how discontent spreads.

I passed out the materials for the sea otters. Most of the students forgot their objections when they saw the materials, which included paint. Two students still wanted plain paper to come up with their own idea. I gave them plain white paper and a tin full of colored pencils with the warning that I would not be able to help them since I was teaching the Sea Otter lesson.   

The original objector asked for various supplies. I told her no, that I was working with the students who wanted to make Sea Otters. She would have to make due with plain paper and colored pencils. She had chosen to be on her own. I was not available to help her.

After the students had gone, I felt God nudging me. How often have I acted like that student?

God asks me to do something. Something He has planned for me to do. He has provided the materials. He is ready to work with me and teach me through the difficult spots.

Sometimes I put my head down and get to work. Sometimes I think I have a better idea. Sometimes I want to do the job He has given to somebody else. Sometimes I work on my own idea while asking God to help me again and again.

His response? “I thought you wanted to be on your own?” …and after I have struggled enough to see my need and my foolishness, He will come along side me with a gentle rebuke and help me get out of the mess I find myself in.

Sometimes I will argue until I realize I need to trust Him even if it makes no sense to me, or seems impossible, or is not what I would have chosen.

Father, forgive me. I am sorry that you must remind me again and again that Your way is the best way. It will not always be the easiest, but it will always be the best.

For Further Study:

But they will say, ‘It’s hopeless! For we are going to follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.’ Jeremiah 18:12

For they have turned their back to Me, and not their face; But in the time of their trouble they will say, “Arise and save us.’ Jeremiah 2:27b

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.  Ephesians 2:10

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2021 Art Show 1st – 3rd Grade

Last but not least are the youngest students. They were the most talkative and most enthusiastic. They were also the most anxious for class to be done so they could run around outside. Organization was my best friend with this class. If I wasn’t ready for them all was lost.

I was proud of the ideas they came up with on there own. They didn’t always want to “stick with the brief”. Which, in art, is a good thing. You should be proud of them.

The Swing after Jean Fragonard (Romantic Period) – Mixed Media
Watercolor Scarecrows
Color Wheel Fish – Mixed Media
Sunflowers after Vincent Van Gogh
Tempera Paint
Watercolor Salt Painting with Snowflake Cutouts
Abstract Art after Victor Vasarely
Working Machines – Tempera Paint
Golden Cats with jewels after Gustav Klimt
Front & Profile Portraits after Pablo Picasso
Shanty after Georgia O’Keefe
Shaking Dogs after Iris Scott – Tempera Paint
Raccoons after Charley Harper – Mixed Media

We didn’t quite finish this project, but they were too cute not to show you. Parents, I would be glad to spend a few minutes with each one putting the finishing touches on these. (Chalk lines and stars)

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2021 Art Show – 4th – 6th Grade

You all did a wonderful job. Sorry we had to go virtual with the art show this year. I enjoyed having each of you in class. These are all better in person. My photography doesn’t do them justice. – Karen

The Swing after Jean Fragonard – mixed media
(One of these is missing. It was photographed with the younger class by mistake.)

mixed media owls after Claire West
Mixed Media – Tempera Paint and Oil Pastels – Learning to mix our own colors
Watercolor Portraits Front and Profile View after Pablo Picasso
Watercolor with black marker
Tree of Life after Gustav Klimt – Metallic Paint with jewels
Chalk Pastel Landscapes after Georgia O’Keeffe
Iris after Claude Monet
Abstract Castles after Paul Klee

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2021 Virtual Art Show – 7th grade & Up

The next three posts will be pictures of my art class from this year. We had an Art Show planned, but sickness prevented us from proceeding as planned. I know this is a departure from my usual, but hope you enjoy the change.

To my 7th grade and up students:

I was proud of the courage each of you had while trying different and unusual materials. We had fun, frustration and laughs. I hope each one of you continues to enjoy and pursue art, even when it is hard. Thank you for being part of my class this year. – Karen Pickering


“Use the talents you possess, for the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except the best.” Henry Van Dyke

Scarabs – Metallic Ink
Chalk Pastels – After Picaso
Watercolor Fish
Graphite & Colored Pencils

“I go to prepare a place for you…” John 14:2

The black and white represents our here and now. The colored part is a glimpse into eternity.

(These are much prettier in person. I apologize for the photography.)

Paper Collage
Tessellation Art after Escher – Colored Pencil
Chalk Pastels
Tempera Paint with black cutout silhouettes

Wire sculpture with plaster wrap

These were much more difficult than we expected. We learned a lot as we struggled with the materials. Let’s just say we have a new appreciation for sculptures.

Various individual projects

Tree of Life – after Gustav Klimt
mosaic
mixed media
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    Faith in the Creator

    I have been teaching art to some children this year. Each week 17 kids ages 5-12 make their way to my basement and create.  We are in the middle of making miniature hot-air balloons so we can imagine traveling from country to country in our journey around the world.

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    They have created Giraffes,

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    Hippos (and a few seals)

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    and Kente cloth from Africa,

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    big red barns from Wisconsin.

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    Pumpkins and turkeys will give a nod to our Thanksgiving holiday.

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    We plan on “visiting” England, Australia, France and Mexico in the coming weeks.

    As I get to know each student I am learning to recognize their artwork. They each have their own  individual  style. I am amazed at what they can do with the raw materials I give them.

    If you would look in my basement you would see their creations hanging up or laying out to dry.  Some things are tucked away in their portfolios.  There hasn’t been an explosion in my basement that caused these things to appear. You would recognize that someone has been at work.

    Hebrews 11:3 says “By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.” (NASB)

    We are asked to believe that God made the world. It was a purposeful act.

    None of us were there. There is no way for us to prove it. We have to take Him at His word. Either He is telling the truth or He is a liar. God gives us the account in Genesis 1-2. If we are to walk by faith we must believe it.  I will let God’s words convince you, not mine.

    “Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these stars, The one who leads forth their host by number, He calls them all by name; Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power not one of them is missing.” Isaiah 40:26 (NASB)

    “All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.” John 1:3 (NASB)

    “…since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so they are without excuse…” Romans 1:19-21 (NASB)

    “…even God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist.” Romans 4:17 (NASB)

    Spend some time looking around today. Does what you see look like an accident or an explosion?

    Next,  go back and read Genesis 1-2. That God created the world is the only credible explanation. If we are to live by faith, believing in creation is the foundation.

    Take comfort that His creation is all around us to remind us of who He is and what He is capable of. He has not left us here alone. He has a purpose and a plan. Believe it. Don’t let this world’s trouble tear your eyes from your only hope.

    “I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the Lord.”        Psalm 27:13-14 (NASB)