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Many people think you have to have "the gift" or talent, in order to be an artist. You don't know how many times I have heard people say they can't even draw stick figures. HOGWASH! Just as a child doesn't write a book without learning to read and write first, neither does a person become a great artist without learning the fundamental skills first. The first written languages started with drawings. The drawing turned into symbols, the symbols turned into letters, the letters formed words, and words formed sentences. Even children who have trouble reading or writing, can understand pictures. Pictures are understood in all cultures and languages. I believe anyone can learn to draw, if they really want to and are willing to discipline themselves, swallow their pride, and learn from a good teacher, or just start drawing. There is no excuse anymore, with all the books, instruction videos, lessons on line, YouTube videos, etc. I was going through some old papers a few days ago and found a drawing left by a lady who came to my house for a lesson. She left her drawing here because she wasn't finished. I held on to it for a few years thinking I might see her again but she never came back for the second lesson to finish it. Before I taught her anything, I asked her to draw an eye to see what she could do. Then I gave her a lesson, and you can see the difference. She was in her sixties, I think, and never had a lesson before. She was pretty quiet so I don't know what was in her thoughts. She has great potential. I hope she is doing well and wish her the best. Most drawings have great potential, even the stick drawings. The person just needs to finish them, learn from them, and keep drawing. There is no such thing as an accident, or mistake, (unless you accidentally spit on them, like I did, when I was trying to blow off little eraser crumbs off the paper. My saliva, from blowing on the paper, left a stain.) Grrr. I learned from that. Now I use a clean dry brush or drafting brush to brush off anything on the drawing. Lesson learned. Our accidents and mistakes make for learning experiences. The point is, draw a lot and don't give up!

Do you see what I see? I call this Rose Man Walking. I took this photo of my rose bush growing over my front steps. If you look long enough, it looks like a stick figure of a rose man walking. Use your imagination and leave a comment when you see it. Just a fun little photo, from reality to fantasy.

Do you ever see things in the clouds, or rocks, or patterns on the floor, ceiling, marble, etc. that isn't really there? I've seen faces, angels, crosses, birds, hearts, or whatever in the clouds, or patterns on the floor, wall paper, trees, etc. There is a name for it. It's called pareidolia. Pareidolia is the tendency to see meaningful images out of random or ambiguous visual patterns. At one time they thought it was a sign of psychosis, but now it is recognized as a normal part of human thinking. Seeing things like faces in the clouds is actually quite natural and helps us have a healthy imagination and creativity. I don't have a lot to say about pareidolia at the moment, other than the fact that I learned a new word to describe what I've seen since I was born. I didn't know it had a name. If you are looking at the clouds and see a swan, but your friend sees something different, that's okay. Seeing things and how we interpret what we see, is an individual thing. I may see a face in the clouds, but you see something different or nothing at all. That's okay. Do you see the face in the clouds in my painting called "Get Ready"? It was painted unintentionally. I didn't see it until later.

PRAISE GOD!!! What a relief to FINALLY have the floor done! It all started back in February, when my son took on the mammoth job of stabilizing our 123 year old living room floor. Our house used to be a rental so it was never really taken care of. In fact we rented it for about twenty years before we decided to buy it; however, the opportunity to purchase it was offered, our income was right, and we accepted. We thought that we knew what we were getting into... The floor was a mess, with a large patched area in the middle of the floor, that was not level with the rest for the floor. We think there used to be a large furnace register there, and when they went from a coal furnace to a gas forced air furnace, they took out the floor register, patched it, and called it "good." Yeah. Right. I was concerned I would trip and fall, or worse, end up in the basement. Fortunately that never happened. (Well, I did trip occasionally). The floor boards broke off into splinters, and the nails stuck up in some areas, which was a hazard as well. I was just careful where I walked, but when someone came over, I had to warn them. We finally saved up enough to fix the floor. Yay! Of course there were many unforeseen extra expenses we came across, but the Lord provided! Praise God!!! The floor was not level and dipped in the middle about 7/8 inch. It creaked and groaned with each step, (kind of like me when I get up). The beam under the front door had dry rot. Some of the beams had to be reinforced and new beams added in the basement. My son, with some help from our daughter in law, and my grandson took on this old house and fixed the floor. It was a real challenge, but they did it! It no longer groans with each step as we walk over it, but just smiles and looks so pretty! No more splinters or stepping on a nail, or tripping on uneven boards. I'm so proud of my son for helping and fixing it up right. It was so physically exhausting as he brought in those huge boards and carried them to the basement. I don't know how he did it. I call him my own Samson! My husband and I painted the walls and trim. My son leveled and raised the floor beams, added new beams, carried out furniture and boxes of art supplies, fixed the dry rot, patched the holes in the floor, laid underlayment, filled in the low spots with leveling cement over the underlayment, and finally after three months of prep work, was able to lay down the floor in a couple days. Because the floor was such a mess, the prep work took a long time, plus he had other things to do as well. LOTS of other things! I create my artwork in the living room. All my art supplies had to be stuffed in the nooks and crannies of the rest of the house or garage. I had art supplies in my kitchen, office, spare bedroom, basement, and garage. I still don't know where everything is, but just three days ago, my son finished laying down the floor. I have no idea where everything is now, but, time and patience will have its final work. In the meantime, though, it has been very stressful to me and put my normal mode of living on hold for over three months. We had to leave the house several times, so my son could work without us being in the way. There was no space left for us to sit, while he was doing the floor. it was too cold to sit outside, and only one chair in the office, or I could sit on the bed and go to sleep. Our son, with help from his wife and younger son, got it done, and it is beautiful! This is a like a dream come true for us! What began as project to shore up the floor, turned into that and so much more. Now, about the ceiling... FLOORED WITH OUR BEAUTIFUL NEW FLOOR Enjoy the slideshow below to see the 'before and after'! It is quite a transformation! Just click on the arrows along the side. We used 7 mm, 7" x 48" laminate flooring.

I've been a bit preoccupied this month and just about everything in my little corner of the room has been put on hold. You see, my art studio is in my living room...well it was, until it was stuffed into every crevice of space available in this little house. For the past month I have had my lifestyle upside down, with a major renovation to our house. We live in a 123 year old small house. The living room floor was always a concern to me, because there was a huge patch in the middle of the floor that was uneven and could catch a person's shoe as they walked past it. It was about a half inch lower than the surrounding area, with nails sticking up. I'd hammer them down, and then they would pop up again later. This went on for years, until my son decided to fix the hole. At one time, there was a coal furnace that heated the house. The heat just came up through a floor vent in the middle of the floor. When they removed the coal furnace, they also took out the floor register and replaced it with a wood patch, which was not level with the floor. <<This photo was taken after my son repaired the old patch in the floor. I thought it was just a matter of fixing the patched area, but, what did I know? For the past month, my son and daughter-in- law have singlehandedly raised the floor beams, added support beams, replaced beams, fixed dry rot directly under the front door threshold, sealed off rotten wood, patched a couple holes in the floor, added underlayment, sealed the underlayment, caulked around the edges of the registers, sealed off the sides of the room, so they can apply a liquid floor leveler, etc. So what does a person do, when everything in the living room has to be moved to get to the floor. Well, you get rid of it, or stuff it in every nook and cranny you can find. So for a month, everything that was in the living room is stuffed in every conceivable place. Most of the chairs are stored in the garage, so I only have three places I can sit now. After removing the threshold board, we saw this rotten wood. The gray floor is the outside porch part of the floor. The brown part is inside the house. See the rotten dry rot where the front door is? My son vacuumed out the rotten wood and brushed Minwax High Performance Wood Hardener on the beams to stop any rot and harden the wood. My son wanted to see how far the rotten beams extended. Front door floor is patched and nice and solid now. Whew! Glad that is fixed! it was scary to go out and check the mailbox! This is what it looks like now with the underlayment, added board on top of the underlayment where the floor was 7/8 inch lower. My son was trying to fill in as much area as he could with extra board to level it, before using the liquid leveler, which is very expensive. The middle of the room is between 5/8 to 7/8 inches lower than the rest of the floor, so he is trying to level it out, so the planks will fit and stay locked in place. This is a whole bag of leveling cement. This is the first of ten bags which will be mixed and spread over the underlayment to level the floor. Who would have thought it could be so complicated?? My son is an artist at construction. I think I will just stick with pencils and paint. I would have NO CLUE on any of this. I barely know how to use a regular screwdriver. Being creative is much more than making pretty pictures! More self leveling concrete. This is my poor kitchen, stuffed with some of my art supplies. if I accidentally eat paint, you will know why. Counter space is rather challenging at the moment. I have a great excuse to eat out, except now I don't want to. I want real food. Pizza gets old after a while. More stuffing, and not for a turkey. My poor office space has been invaded. Now where is that paint brush I was looking for? Help!!!! To be continued...

I just read an art marketing post titled The Original Sin of Art Marketing by Clint Watson from Fine Art Views. Then it said... "In business, the customer comes first. In art, the customer comes last." That was a new one on me! I've always been told "the customer comes first", and/or... "the customer is always right." Haven't you? With commissioned work, the artist does have to consider and please a particular client, who is paying them to make a work of art specific to their desires and needs. I think most artists hate commissions, especially if they get a client that keeps changing their mind, or wants the artist to make changes here and there. But when an artist is starting out to make a work of art that is NOT a commission piece, they are in essence, birthing or creating something entirely unique and new. I know I get very attached to my work, which I painstakingly spend many hours brooding over and making. Although I love to make a sale, sometimes it is hard to give up my "baby", and I want to make sure it is going to a loving home. They better love that baby, or I will want to rescue it. The buyer is more like an adopted parent and needs to be screened, just like an adoption agency is supposed to screen people. That's how artists may look at potential buyers. It's crazy, I know. Buying art is not like buying any other product. Art is not made, it is birthed. It is the tangible expression coming from the artist's spirit and soul. How do you price that? It has to touch the heart somehow, making some sort of connection with the soul and spirit, or it is meaningless. Art is one of the ways humans communicate. It is the language of the spirit and soul. Drawing and painting were the forerunners of the written alphabet. Well, those are my musings for today. Until then, Keep looking up! -Nancy

I subscribe to various paint manufacturers that make paint and various art supplies. Today I opened an email from Liquitex. Did you know that Liquitex is the first company that developed acrylic paint back in the 1950s? The email said that today, March 22, is World Pigment Day! Of course, that caught my eye! You can learn a lot from the original source. I like to get it from the "horse's mouth", so any time I do research, or want to learn something, I try to find the original source. (This is why the Bible is my favorite book. You can't get any more original than that!). If I want to know more about a specific brand of paint, I try to see if the manufacturer has their own website, instead of getting it second hand from a store that sells their brand. Often paint manufacturers have great art tips and tutorials on their own site. Do you know what pigment means? It is any substance that makes a color. In the art world we get our colors or pigments from various sources; plants, rocks, animals, insects, shells, burnt sticks, etc. Humans are very resourceful and "have made their mark" with paint or drawing supplies from the simplest of materials since the dawn of mankind. Did you know that the Indian Yellow used to come from the urine of cows? Vermeer, Turner, and Van Gogh used it in their paintings. You may look at Starry Night in a whole new way. Just another reason not to touch paintings at the museum! Did you know the specific blue color in Kosher Jewish prayer shawls was thought to be made by a specific snail that lived in that area. The snail disappeared for hundreds of years and has recently been rediscovered. Just a little FYI. If you are interested in art tutorials, tips, lessons, etc. sign up at various paint manufacturers and get their newsletters. You will learn a lot. Here are some links to some very reputable artist paint manufacturers. https://www.liquitex.com headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio https://www.goldenpaints.com headquarters in New Berlin, New York https://www.winsornewton.com/na/ headquarters in London, England

Did you know you get paid for sinning? It's true! Every sin earns you a wage. On payday, you will blow all your earnings in a place called Hell. But wait! There is more! And there is hope… ”For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:23 Jesus paid your fine, by dying in your place, to pay for your sins. You can go free…IF you ask forgiveness, confess your sins to Him, and commit the rest of your life to God, turn away from your sins, believe in Jesus Christ, and give the rest of your life to Him. Jesus paid your debts and is the only way back to God. Talk to your heavenly Father and ask His forgiveness. Acknowledge Jesus Christ died in your place and rose from the dead. Give God your life, and follow the teachings of Jesus. When you repent, and give God your life, a miracle happens. Your human spirit connects with God's Holy Spirit, and you become a new creation through faith in Jesus Christ. You become born again. Your past is forgiven, and you are given a new life. You are never alone again, because the Holy Spirit comes to live inside you; to teach you, guide you, and give you eternal life. Of course, it doesn't mean everything will suddenly be great. In fact, it could get worse, with persecution, temptations, etc. We live in a sinful world, with a lot of crazy things going on. Life is never easy, no matter what side of the fence you are on. Get to know God by reading the Bible. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you understand it. The Bible is ALIVE. It will speak something new to you, every time you read it, even if its the same verse. Ask Father for new friends that are close to Jesus, to help you. Get to know God, by spending time alone with Him, and just talk to him. He loves you! He cant wait to spend time with you! Keep looking up! Nancy Out of the Ashes by Nancy Cupp

Way back in 2011 I was experimenting with acrylic inks on watercolor paper after taking a workshop on acrylic inks. One day I was dabbling in a new design and not really sure how it would come out. It was mostly just blobs of colors, but as I looked at it, I thought it kind of looked like grapes, so I accentuated it with markers and colored pencil, just doodling around with it, experimenting like a "mad scientist". I didn't think it turned out that great. I've done better, but, it was fun. I'm more into the more realistic looking things, but, this was an experiment. I forgot about it until I was looking at my older website today and came across it again. I had forgotten I wrote a rather amazing thing about it. A story that we can all benefit from today, and that is FEAR. I think the story is better than the actual art work, in what it teaches. It was just an artwork about grapes. But I wrote something else into the story that is more important than the art. It's about what's going on today. FEAR. What giants are you facing now? Fear of war, the economy, your health, a relationship? Losing a dear one? What is your fear? What is keeping you from facing the giants and taking the land? What does grapes have anything to do with the story? Sooo. here is what I wrote back in 2011. Grapes are amazing! They are used to make so many wonderful things, from jellies, jams, salads, oils, wines, the list is endless. Every part of the plant can be used in some way. They are very medicinal as well. Grapes are mentioned many times in the Bible and symbolic of many spiritual things. As the Israelites were ready to enter the promised land, the Lord told Moses to send out one representative from each of the twelve tribes to scout out the land. They were supposed to bring back samples of the abundant food growing there. Instead ten of the men came back with an evil report about powerful giants in the land, causing panic in the camp. They wanted to turn back to Egypt and slavery rather than face the giants. Only Caleb and Joshua came back with a good report and said they could defeat the giants. They brought back samples with ONE cluster of grapes that had to be carried on a pole by two men! Thats a lot of grapes! God gave Israel physical evidence of His abundant provision waiting for them when they entered the promised land. The Israelites believed the evil story instead and wandered in the wilderness forty years because of it. Because of their fear and unbelief, they were not allowed to enter the Promised Land until all the unbelievers had died off in the wilderness. Even though they had witnessed the most spectacular miracles, those twenty years old and up (at the time of that evil report) never entered the promised land because of fear and believing an evil report. Whose report do you believe? Giants or grapes? I choose grapes. When they came to the valley of Eshcol, they cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes so large that it took two of them to carry it on a pole between them! They also brought back samples of the pomegranates and figs. Numbers 13:23

As I was reading my Bible this morning, I came across Luke 15:3-7. I was given a specific prophetic word for someone I have not seen in about 25 years or so. The last time I saw her, she must have been about 5 years old. The Lord put her on my heart while reading that passage of scripture where the good shepherd left the 99 sheep to find the one who wandered away and got lost. Sheep are by nature, herd animals and know that there is safety when they stay together, close to their shepherd, but, sometimes they wander off, not paying attention or get scared by a predator. Soon they are all alone, with no one to rescue them. They are left very vulnerable. The good shepherd does not leave his sheep, but sometimes the sheep wander off from the shepherd and then blames the shepherd for not being there for them. When the shepherd calls for all the sheep to come in to the safety of the barn, sometimes the sheep is so far away that he/she can't hear the voice of the shepherd anymore. If the sheep is smart, he will go back home on his own, but, sometimes, the sheep is so lost that the shepherd has to come find him. Do you hear the distant call of the good Shepherd or are you so far lost that He is going to have to come after you? If you are being stubborn or naughty, He will let you exhaust yourself until you finally give in and let him carry you back home over his shoulders, rejoicing all the way home. Luke 15:3 Then Jesus told them this parable: 4 “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.