Why the Title Soul Artist?

Soul Artist
Listening to the Heart...Responding with Colors from the Master's Palette.

Why the title "Soul Artist"?
Some of my earliest memories are about Art and Christianity. My father, a great craftsman, made many things for the little church we attended. Among them, the baby cribs. I remember being in one of those cribs. I also remember, at about three years of age, sitting cross legged with other children in our church nursery as we anxiously awaited pages of a coloring book to decorate with our crayons. Now, to this three year old, every coloring book page looked like a delightful blank canvas just waiting for my enhancements. The Sunday School teacher held up torn out page after torn out page of interesting looking animals and Bible-Time scenery. I wanted to color every page. A compliant child, I sheepishly held up my hand for each page, but each time other children were handed the papers. The teacher would tell me - "Penny, put down your hand!" A little confused, I would sit silently and watch other pages being handed out. At one point the teacher showed us a donkey. It was too much for me to understand why I couldn't color along with the other children. I put my hand up in the air, to which the teacher replied, "Put your hand down, Penny! You color good! You get to color Jesus." "Oh." I never realized my love for drawing and color was different than anyone else's. It was an affirming moment that I've never forgotten.

Throughout my life the themes of Christianity and Art have intertwined in various ways. And so the name...Soul Artist.

Like that first affirmation of a gift God had given me, it is my hope that this blog will be an encourgement to others. It is my prayer that in hearing from you in response to these writings that I might have the privilege of listening to your heart, and respond with "colors from the Master's Palette" - that is with the beauty of Jesus' teachings as found in the Bible.