The Joys of Online Classes

With so many artists offering online classes it is possible to learn any art technique and one should find it difficult to find themselves with nothing to art journal about. I have enjoyed taking online classes over the past few years and have learned so much from so many talented artists. One of my favorite benefits I have found about online classes is that, although they make take place during a certain time period, most of the teachers offer long term access to the class content. This is so beneficial for one who goes through periods of busyness when not much art time can be found. Case in point: My latest art desire is to learn how to paint/draw/sketch with watercolors. I am so drawn to art journals and nature journals with watercolor sketches of the things one saw while out in nature. I have also been drawn to the watercolor sketch art of Junelle Jacobsen. So when she announced that she was starting a new series called "Art of Pilgrimage: Wild Faith & Wild Art" I wanted to jump on-board. The problem was, the series was beginning the first week of November and I knew my schedule was full with outreach events and prep for the HKC Advent project. Here is where the benefit comes in...I could sign up, even peek into the classroom and the class Facebook page from time to time, and then dig in once I got past my busyness!

I got a little bit of a start a few weeks ago but this weekend I finally got a chance to dig in and get my feet wet with the class and watercolor sketching. From watching Junelle paint I found out the key really is to paint and not fuss too much with it but then let the ink pen add the detail and form to your object.

We had our first snow of the season overnight. It was a beautiful morning with the snow sticking to the branches of the trees and sparkling in the sunlight.

This weekend is almost over and I have my sights set on next weekend already. I'm so ready for a four-day weekend!

30 Day Blogging Challenge 13.

A Giveaway and a New Class at HKC

Tomorrow we are releasing a new collaborative class from the foundation team of the His Kingdom Come community. This will be our third collaborative class offering this year. The five of us have such a great time connecting and sharing ideas and art, and it's always neat to see how different our five projects end up!

The class is called Faithart 102: God's Aviary. Anyone who has followed my blog for any length of time knows how much I enjoy birds! We each took a different bird or bird subject and traced the theme through the Bible. We then each made a different type of journal to put our study notes and art into. You can purchase each class individually for $8 or a bundle of all five for $35. Visit here to read more about the classes. Here is a sneak peak video of the class:

For my study I dug into bird symbolism used in the Bible and focused on three areas: trust, refuge and renewal. Here is a sneak peak into my journal:

Since I love birds and I love collage and I have bird themed collage packs of vintage papers in my Etsy shop I decided it would be fun to do a giveaway on my blog.  Here is what you do: pop over to my Etsy shop, {found on brighton}, and take a peak around. then come back here and share a comment about an item you saw there. The winner of the random drawing will win a bird themed paper pack plus a few extra goodies! Leave your comment here by 6:00 pm EST Sunday.  I will announce the winner here on Monday, September 7. 

Well, I'm looking forward to a long weekend and a little extra time to play with art. I hope you enjoy your holiday weekend and that you find time to be creative. :)

Welcome March!

"When March comes in like a lion, it goes out like a lamb."

I sure hope this saying is true! Three days into March and we've had a small snow storm and now snow and freezing rain. February was one of the coldest on record. I'm so ready for Spring!

We are now 2 full months into the year and the Take Me Deeper weekly faith art project in the His Kingdom Come community. That means that next Friday we'll begin a new monthly theme for our devotions. And Sunday a new set of prompts for our word was posted on the Logos365 page. The HKC foundation team launched its first collaborative class this past Saturday, Faithart 101. We each took an area of the techniques we use in faith art and provided videos and written tutorials and gave examples of our art and our process. I took on the area of Bible study techniques, teaching some inductive style study techniques and how to use online Bible study tools. I also shared some of my art process and tips AND I gave a mini tutorial on my hand-lettering (a frequent request). You can join the class anytime and you can take one of them or all of them. Here are a few sneak peeks at my class:

Pages from February's Take Me Deeper Faithart project:

February Week 3: Love Your Neighbor

My take on the study techniques from the Scripture Snippets class
by Paula Parkison on the HKC site.

February Week 4: Love Yourself

This last photo is a Scripture quote I made for a slide in my class video so I glued it onto a page in my TMD journal.

February was a busy month with deadlines for the class and future TMD devotions and my father-in-law has had health problems which have required all of us to pitch in. Last week this little one turned 2. She is the first of our God-grand children that we've know since birth. Her family has been a part of our life for almost 7 years and they are such a blessing to us. Enjoy your week!

Faithart 101 Class Launch 2.28.2015

On Saturday February 28^th,  His Kingdom Come is launching its first collaborative class prepared by the 5 members of the Foundation Team.  Faithart 101 has been developed for beginners to Faith Journaling.   The 5 classes cover basic journaling information, how to translate scripture into art, the basics of drawing people, using scrapbooking techniques and mixed media techniques.

Each of the 5 classes can be purchased individually or all 5 can be bought together with a discount.  The individual classes are $8 each but you can buy all 5 together for $35.  PayPal will sort out the currency for you if you live outside the United States.    Once you have purchased your classes and have been added to the class site you can work through the classes at your own pace.  You will have unlimited access to the classes you have purchased.

The Foundation Team consists of Bernice, Mary, Shonna, Merri and Diane and each day this week you can find out more about each of us on our personal blogs.  We will also tell you about the class we are teaching as part of Faithart 101.

Bernice at Newly Creative on Sunday 22^nd Feb.

Diane at Adore Him Creations on  Monday 23^rd Feb.

Shonna at Twisted Figures on Tuesday 24^th Feb.

Merri at Connecting Faith and Creativity on Wednesday 25^th Feb.

Mary at Me, With My Head in the Clouds on Thursday 26^th Feb.

My class is:

Let me tell you a bit about myself:

I live in Toledo, OH, have been married to Bob for 23 years, and we have two grown daughters and two step-grandsons. I have been a Christ-follower for 26 years. For the past 12 years I have worked in full time ministry at our church as the Executive Director and the Director of our outreach ministries. 

Below you will find some questions each of the blog hop participants will be answering:

How does your faith impact your creativity?  

When I got connected to art journaling it opened up a new life of creativity for me. God has used art journaling in my life as another spiritual practice. It has become another way of drawing me near to Him. Madeleine L'Engel says, "Art is incarnational." Art, whether in word or image, helps me put form to what is inside my heart and mind. When I take what I am seeing in Bible study and prayer and express it visually it is planted in my heart and mind more fully. Art becomes another tool used by God for spiritual transformation in my life.

What is your favorite technique?

 That's a hard question to answer! One of the things I love about art journaling is that it gives me opportunity to use a variety of techniques and art mediums. As far as techniques go, I think it would probably be a tie between finger-painting circles doing hand-cut letters. My favorite art medium would be collage - I love gluing paper!

Who is your favorite person in the Bible and why?

 It often changes based on what I am studying! Right now we are going through the Gospel of John at church and I really appreciate how focused the Apostle John is. He keeps the bigger picture purpose of why Jesus came as a man in mind as he writes. John is vision and mission minded (qualities I can relate to) and is always reminding his readers of God's mission and vision through the Son. And even though John is passionate about sharing truth, he is just as equally passionate about sharing God's love.

What Bible verse do you regularly rely on?

Again, this answer can change based on what I am studying. But, overall, I think one of the verses that keeps me grounded is Philippians 2:12-13: "Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed - not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence - continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose." I need the constant reminder in this verse that God and I each have a role to play in my spiritual growth and maturity, but even in my role I must depend fully on Him.

Where to find me: 

• Here on my blog! www.mewithmyheadintheclouds.blogspot.com ~ you can follow me by email or Google+ on the right column.
• Instagram
• My Etsy shop : {found on brighton}
• Facebook: Mary Brack
• Flickr: marynbtol

Join us on February 28th in taking Faithart101 at His Kingdom Come and learn more  about Faithjournaling.  If you are not already a member of the His Kingdom Come community then please sign up.  You can purchase the class or classes from today.