Two Paintings - by Lacy

Here are two amazing paintings by a friend.
Lacy is a wonderfully talented artist (as you can see for yourself)!
I love the flower textures in both paintings.

Thanks for looking,
Miss Pickwickian

Amazing Giveaway :-)

A very big thank you to Zbet who custom made this beautiful necklace!

It is proper for the Christian to use symbols and reminders in daily life. (Many of the commands given to the Law are representations and reminders of something greater.)

This necklace is made of three "symbols"--

The cross was a sign of suffering and shame and it has been turned into a sign of hope and triumph-- the burial marker of Death.

The cross is a reminder of Jesus love, suffering, death, and resurrection.

We were dead sinners but Christ took those sins upon Himself and we are now alive in His resurrection. Although we will die, it is in that turning page that Death proves it's powerlessness. It can not hold those claimed by the Living God.

It is also a reminder of the words of Christ-

Then said Jesus unto his disciples, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
Matthew 16:24

That cross is real, but we know that it is conquered. May we carry it joyfully and may these words be true of us--

But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.
Galatians 6:14

The Pearl is used as a symbol of the Church of Christ. It is a sign of value, purity, unity, and growth.

It is created through suffering. An impurity enters the oyster side and the oyster uses itself to create the pearl. The pearl, at first something useless and impure becomes something beautiful reflecting the beauty of the inside of the oyster's shell. Read this review...

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: who when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it."

Matthew 13:45-46

The pearl is a reminder of the beauty and glory, that someday will be fully true, of the unified Church through Christ.

It is also a common sign of purity and holiness.

The oval stamped with "Hold Fast" is a reminder of our only purpose and goal. To hold fast to our faith. To press on toward the goal of the upward call in Christ Jesus.

You shall walk after the LORD your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him.

Deuteronomy 13:4

He taught me and said to me, "Let your heart hold fast my words; keep my commandments and live. Get wisdom; get insight; do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth."
Proverbs 4:4-5

To Paul, "holding fast" is a pretty intense action--

Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

Romans 12:9-12

Necklace Description:
High quality oval charm hand stamped with "Hold Fast", complimented by a double sided cross, and wire wrapped, fresh water pearl on a 16" sterling silver chain.

This amazing piece was custom made for this giveaway!

Zbet uses high quality materials, beautiful designs, and an eye for carefully crafted artistry. Besides already-made creations, this shop hand stamps and custom makes art and jewelry especially for you!

I am certainly going to be commissioning some work here. :-) It's going to be difficult to part with this necklace.

Zbet has been wonderful to work with and has very graciously sponsored this giveaway.

You must check out the shop! It is so cool!

How to Enter

1. Visit Zbet's Designs.
Discover how amazing it is and come back and let me know what you like best.

2. Follow me.

3. Post about it on your blog (or facebook or both).

4. Put my giveaway button on your sidebar.

You must comment once for every entry. Giveaway ends January 30th.

Note: Sorry for previous link that didn't work. This one does! :-)

<a href="http://theerraticmuse.blogspot.com/2011/01/high-quality-oval-charm-hand-stamped.html"><img src="http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd15/riversong14/TheErraticMuseGiveaway.jpg" /></a>

Thank you for entering!Miss Pickwickian

Scenes from the Life of Esther

Queen Esther

by Andrea del Castagno (1421-1457)

The Feast of Esther

by Frans Francken II (1581-1642)

Esther before Ahasuerus
by Claude Vignon (1593-1670)

Haman Begging Esther of Mercy
by Rembrandt (1606-1669)

The Banquet of Esther

by Jan Victors (1619-1676)

Festival of Esther

by Edward Armitage (1817-1896)

Esther
by Sir John Everett Millais (1829-1896)

Esther
by Minerva Teichert (1888-1976)

Sydney Carton - Polka Dot and Mama :-)

The spare hand does not tremble as he releases it; nothing worse than a sweet, bright constancy is in the patient face. She goes next before him--is gone; the knitting women count Twenty-Two.

"I am the Resurrection and the Life, saith the Lord: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die."
The murmuring of many voices, the upturning of many faces, the pressing on of many footsteps in the outskirts of the crowd, so that it swells forward in a mass, like one great heave of water, all flashes away.
Twenty three.

They said of him, about the city that night, that it was the peacefullest man's face ever beheld there. Many added that he looked sublime and prophetic....

"...It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known."

~ From A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

Yes! My sister drew this and my mother water colored it! And it was for me! For Christmas!!!!! I love it so much.

I had a wonderful Christmas (and not just because I got this amazing picture:-). I hope you did too!

Thanks for reading,
Miss Pickwickian

Evgeni Plushenko

The King of Ice...artist and athlete.

This is one of my favorite performances...

Although Andrea Bocelli and Plushenko together is pretty hard to beat!

Thanks for watching,
Miss Pickwickian

The Mayflower - Mike Haywood

I love paintings with lots of water and waves...

Leonardo DiCaprio - Polka Dot

So...my sister is a learning artist and this last year she's had a wonderful opportunity to take portrait classes. She's really improving and some of her pictures are just awesome! (No bias involved, I assure you.)

They don't come out quite as nice in photographs, but I want to post some anyways, and she has very graciously allowed me. So, in the future, you shall be seeing some Polka Dot art. :-)

If you are an artist of some sort and would like to be mentioned, recommended or linked back to, feel free to email me and we can talk about it. I'd absolutely love to!

Leonardo DiCaprio
Polka Dot 2010

(And just in case you were concerned...No, she does not always go around drawing actors and she is not particularly obsessed with DiCaprio. I just thought this was a good example because he has a very unusual, if pleasing countenance that I think would be hard to draw.)

Please encourage her! :-)

Thanks for looking,

Miss Pickwickinan

Trinitarian Justification... and the Importance of Artists and Story Tellers!

Listen to this Reformation Day Sermon...

Trinitarian Justification by Peter Leithart

The sermon uploaded 11/1/10 #1589

And here is a excerpt on Peter Leithart's blog.

The sermon itself is extremely good, but the part before is amazing too.

I had to listen to it twice. :-) What an mission for writers and artists. May we take this to heart. This so important. May we encourage each other!

I hope you have time to listen.
Miss Pickwickian

Sketches from Leonardo Da Vinci

Josh Groban is Josh Groban

Duh...
Actually, there is more to this post. ;-)

My sister got Josh Groban's original album, Josh Groban, this year for her birthday. We've been listening to it a lot. Really. Like a lot.
And that's cool. I like it. Josh Groban is great in his realm. He has a seriously amazing voice and some of his songs are over the top. Love 'em.

But I am not a Josh Groban fan. I think the hype is starting to wear off, but I know a lot of people got turned away from his music by the crazy Grobanite fans. I confess I've been very tempted, but that's a bad reason to ignore a talented musician.

I enjoy how Josh Groban mixes classical and almost opera type quality to some of the pop music he sings. He certainly fills a unique place.

If you've been reading you know I am an Andrea Bocelli fan. :-)

Beka, a dear friend, compared the two singers very well (and she really likes both).
Josh Groban is milk chocolate, Andrea Bocelli is dark...at least 72%. Josh Groban is a young man, Andrea Bocelli is da man.

Yeah, anyways... Both have excellent talent.

Here's some videos with some pretty top quality milk chocolate. ;-) These are my three favorite Josh Groban songs.


Sorry about the creepy woman.... Couldn't find another video.

I sing to life! Awesome!
See translation for the entire song here.


Talk about dramatic?
Okay...You are allowed to be made sick by his fans. Gag...
This is 2007 in the hype of the Groban craze. Since then I think he's learned a little more grace and humility during stage performance. ;-)

If you can't stand it all, just listen. It's beautiful!


Love this song. Love, love, love!
After having said that, I think its a little romanticized... And I don't even like Van Gogh's art.
Sister says Vincent is my secret soul mate. ;-) Don't think so...

But I love this song!


Thanks for reading. Hopefully this added some beauty to your day!

Miss Pickwickian

Jesus and the Woman Taken in Adultery - John 7:53-8:11

We recently saw this in an art gallery at Canon Beach. I thought it was beautiful. I didn't get the artist's name and couldn't find it online, but I enjoyed their work. There was also a really neat painting incorporating all of the parables in a more medieval style. It was pretty neat.


They went each to his own house ¹but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
² Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them.
³The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst ⁴they said to him, "Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. ⁵Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?" ⁶This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him.
Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. ⁷And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her." ⁸And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground.
⁹But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. ¹⁰Jesus stood up and said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"
¹¹She said, "No one, Lord."
And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more."

The Grape Picker - William Bouguereau

Deposition from the Cross - Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio

It's been to long with out a Caravaggio....

Paranoid

Do those who work to cultivate the imagination suffer from increased paranoia?