amaranthus.

10x12 acrylic on panel.

this style of painting is so fun.  it's not original and doesnt take a genius to do it, but it's very free and very painterly.

i heart brushstrokes.

hurry up and orchard

10"x12" acrylic on panel.

rain is good for art :)

the San Louie and the gaggle of geese

look for my painting in the upcoming issue of the San Louie magazine in november!

notes to myself: cure

"walk in the spirit and you will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh...if we live in the spirit, let us also walk in the spirit.  let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another."

galatians 5:16, 25, 26

care full

watercolor and pen.

the meek shall inherit the earth

cutting out letters for a bulletin board (it actually will say, "checking in with children's ministry")

113 degrees is way too hot.

i grew up in weather very similar to england's in the coastal north of this state.  the only way we knew it was summer was because it rained LESS.

when, in a freak fit of nature, the last throes of summer lashed thick tentacles of disgusting heat out into san luis county, i did not embrace it.  the whole thing actually made me angry (real mature, i know).  

our house is like a toaster when it's hot outside, which leaves me as a wanderer, exiled from my dwelling.

while i was pitching a fit to ian about it, he reminded me in his sweet gentle way that if i had a better perspective about it, the harsh weather might be a blessing.

i ended up driving up to my my church in morro bay (figuring the coast was the only place that would be not hellish on such a hot day) and asking them to put me to work just so i could hang out in their huge, naturally cooled building.  it turns out that there were a couple large informational bulletin boards that they had wanted to do for a while.  

all this to say, God, in His sweet mercy, proved me wrong and actually turned what i thought would be a wasted week into a peaceful, useful, and bearable (temp wise) week.  i dare say that this week has actually been a huge blessing that would not have happened if the heat had not driven me out of SLO.  i got to serve God, hang out with my friends and do art like the third grade art major that i am/was.

i'm convinced that God seriously uses everything... especially after God took the time to re-convince me this week :)  if you find yourself pitching a fit about something... He probably has such a rad purpose for that very thing that is irritating you or stopping your plans that it's worth the trouble and trust it takes to remain calm and walk in whatever new road He has laid out for you.

notes to myself: receive.

"we then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak and not to please ourselves.  let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification.  for even Christ did not please Himself...

...receive one another just as Christ also received us, to the glory of God."

{romans 15}

Herman the Hero

playing around with the idea of illustrating a children's book my mum-in-law wrote called Herman the Hero.  it is about a kind hearted goose :)

this is a watercolor i did of a picture i got off the internet.  just practice.  i wish illustration were that easy!  it's harder than you think.

"that spring Herman and Harriet raised their own little brood of goslings.  Herman, though, was never too busy to watch out for the welfare of all the goslings including those of the wild geese."

notes to myself, two

"let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this not to put a stumblingblock or a cause to fall in our brother's way." romans 14

tree outside my window

7"x10" acrylic on panel

cloudy ceiling

my most faithful patron had me paint clouds on the ceiling of her little boy's room last week.

they are painted to look as if you are literally beneath them, looking up at them.

the little boy's grandmum gave me blackberries and lemon balm while i painted.    

   

notes to myself, because i need all the help i can get.

"owe no one anything except to love one another...love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.  and do this [love one another], knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed." 

-romans 13:8, 10-11

never noticed that these two verses (10 and 11) were so linked before.  it's pretty clear what paul is trying to say.

p.s., ian's scanner is my new favorite toy :D

gospel reverie

hilarious

this guy is hilarious.  

here's his website: http://www.marcjohns.com/

i love the bread.

flickr

this painting is from a series i did called "wait."  this particular painting, though, actually does not exist...ah the glories of photoshop.  i turned a brown painting blue....sheesh.

well kids, i'm not too smart about internet stuff, but when someone wrote me an email asking if they could view my art portfolio online (and they asked if i had a flickr account), a light bloomed over my head.  flickr is a genius place for a "portfolio."

so if you wanna look, or direct future patrons to samples of my shtuff, go to flickr and look for me under cas.andersen (notice the dot.)  flickr is still new and weird to me...so as far as i know, this is the best way to find me: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cas_andersen/

i'm in flickr though as cas.andersen.

i'm working on starting up an etsy thing too...but that'll take more time.

and now, for something completely different, a quote from robin's blog:

"A whistling girl and a cackling hen will never come to a good end." 

pantomime

i have six ideas

and seven You can choose

what does it mean to You?

it means to Me a length of 

cloud fought light.

a drowned, penciled depth

and nothing left to fill.

and nothing left to understand

like this.

stillborn flush-

no further let,

no further calm to seek.

only pantomimes yet to 

numb limb.

trumpets and tribes describe.

I need you sit still

longer and longer,

farther and farther.

throes uncurled to joy,

in joy

you will know

by nearness.

slapdash #10: find the sky

hands strong
with love and wandering
always
taking in, tasting, smelling,
kneading.
to explore and to memorize so constant,
you failed to notice you were picking
the tear in my jeans.

i'm not alive like you.
i dont desire to smell something
i've already smelled
or already judged.
i do not see newness
in old
like you.
i do not see others in new
like you.

you are science and art.
you are brother yet father.
you are zeal yet control:
they call it meekness.

you are a man of war
weeping to red and raw.

you break me and build me.
both by love.  both by paradigm.

i cannot describe you out loud-
not for not knowing,
but the words swell a world
caught in my breathing-
i cannot do both.

innate, rising visions demand
to be satisfied
by sky.
clamoring, pleading,
since the fourth of july.
"i must rise.  this is all i know."

you say, "i am yours,"
and i know it is costly.
i say, "i am yours.
our hands will find the sky."

slapdash #9: henry scott holland

i have this devotional called "joy and strength" that i think was written in the very early 1900's.  i totally love it.  no one "tells it like it is" like the believers of the 1800's.

here's todays:

"put on therefore, a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; forbearing one another, and forgiving each other, if any man have a complaint against any; even as the Lord forgave you, so also do ye." - colossians 3:12, 13

the discord is within, which jars

so sadly in life's song;

'tis we, not they who are in fault,

when others seem so wrong.

-frederick wm. faber

"self-preoccupation, self-broodings, self-interest, self-love- these are the reasons why you go jarring against your fellows.  turn your eyes off yourself; look up and out!  there are men, your brothers, and women, your sisters; they have needs that you can aid.  listen for their confidences; keep your heart wide open to their calls, and your hands alert for their service.  learn to give and not to take; to drown your own hungry wants in the happiness of lending yourself to fulfill the interests of those nearest or dearest.  look up and out, from this narrow, cabined self of yours, and you will jar no longer; you will fret no more, you will provoke no more; but you will, to your  own glad surprise, find the secret of "the meekness and gentleness of Jesus;" and the fruits of the spirit will bud and blossom from out of your life." -henry scott holland

slapdash #8: ian's little birdie story

hey kids-


ians here to tell us a lovely story today!  listen up listen up!  :)  i now pass the computer to the redhead sitting next to me of whom i speak:


This morning I was feeling burdened after working a 56 hour work week, feeling distracted from the important things, wondering if I was being led down the wrong path by simply trying to "be responsible".  I had gone for an early morning swim and sat in the sauna afterwards sweating and speaking with the Lord fretting that I would become like so many middle aged men who are married, work hard and no one hears from again.  Men who were once on fire for the Lord but fade away, not from the Lord per se but from bearing fruit.  I was beginning to worry that I would fall to the way side and that the Lord would let me.

I left the Y and began to walk across the park back to my apartment and 3 crows began to crow at me and they started taking turns dive bombing me.  They harassed me as I had never heard of crows harassing a human.  They were not guarding a nest but were merely out to harass me and I felt the Lord speak to me that the crows were sent as a warning that the enemy was after me and that I needed stop listening to him.  The birds of the air are always after the life giving seed of the gospel.  They hate it and seek to gobble it up lest the beautiful fruit of the Lord should spring up.  I prayed to the Lord to help me and told Him that I trusted Him to protect me from the enemy.  As soon as prayed the crows became silent and perched back in their tree.  A small bird then hopped up on the grass next to me cocked his head and gave me a look.  The Lord then reminded me that he keeps track of even the little sparrow and knows when one falls from the tree.  If He cares so much for this little bird how much more must He care for me.  As I walked up the front drive to my apartment small song birds swirled in the air before me singing sweet songs and I knew that the Lord was with me.

The enemy should never be allowed to perch upon our shoulders and whisper into our ears.  he is a wicked scavenger only able to steel and harass.  It is much better to flit through the air and sing knowing that the Lord loves us.

slapdash #7: the pleasure of God

I have been reading luke 12 for forever.  there's nothing like the words of Jesus, seriously.

it starts out warm and fuzzy..."fear not: you are of more value than many sparrows..."

and ends a little disconcerting: "...and that servant...shall be beaten with many stripes..."

at first i'm overwhelmed by stark encouragement and stark warning.  how can i ever measure up?  especially if i still struggle living out the encouragement part...i cant do the easiest thing, how can i ever do the hard stuff?

but remember, this is Grace Himself we are talking to.  i realize that Jesus wants us to have His thoughts- His perspective on the daily action of living- His definition of success.

so, in going for the big picture, i made a list as i went through the chapter asking myself, "what is Jesus' definition of doing a good job at this life.  what is He listing as something that brings Him pleasure?  what does Jesus define as success?"  these statements are only my own words, but maybe their summarization can work to our benefit.  its interesting, some of the ideas totally repeat themselves.  Jesus is an excellent teacher :)

GOD IS PLEASED WHEN I:

1-3: am real and genuine...when i take being real and genuine with God and man seriously.
4-5: fear God as the only one i am accountable to/answer to
6-7: dont live afraid because i know i am higly valued by Him
8-9: tell others about Him
10-12: give Him my tongue as His tool, and my heart rests peacefully on Him
15: am aware of the temptation/danger of covetousness.  He is pleased when i dont live my life based on the amount of stuff i have- it is an indicator that my treasure rests elsewhere
21: am "rich toward God."  he is pleased when He Himself is what my heart values.
22: dont worry about life or the body- realizing their proper place (ie, not priority in my heart)
24: know HOW He sees me- that i am valued by Him, that i matter to Him, because He knows it will affect how i live
26: choose trust over worry and anxiousness
27: when i look around and see His faithfulness in everything
28: have BIG faith
29: trust Him to the point of not having an anxious mind
31: seek His kingdom
32: realize that He very much wants to give us what we seek.  to know that the "kingdom" is ours and therefore not to fear
33-34: give up the temporal in exchange for the eternal.  when my heart's treasure is in Him
35-37: wait for Him/watch for Him expectantly.  he pronounces a blessing for those who are ready for Him
40: READY for Him to come
42-48: say in my heart as His servant, "my master comes at any moment.  i will preserve the man and  maidservants around me like a good steward.  i will be sober and aware."

there's so much love in this chapter...hear o israel...you shall LOVE Me...

o, how He wants us to LOVE Him, and to know truly that we are loved by Him.