Tag: Art

Jubilation

~ Christine Goodnough ~ 4 Comments

Today’s Bloganuary Challenge asks the question “What brings you joy in life?”

In a nutshell: my family, my hobbies and interests. At this stage of life I don’t feel a lot of the thrilling kind of joy, but more of a deep contentment and gratitude for the many blessings God has given me. My spouse, my daughter and her family, my grandchildren. Our home, the acreage we live on with the nearby woods full of birds. The blogging community I can be a part of.

I enjoy writing, blogging, poetry, reading, painting, piecing blanket tops, doing jigsaw puzzles, listening to singing. I enjoy visiting, especially with the seniors at the Villa. I was there yesterday helping them with their jigsaw — a really hard one for senior eyes! I enjoy watching the birds. Observing nature, weather, the skies — all this brings me delight. Which is why I’ve used nature themes for my book titles.

Sask prairie & sky

The first thing that came to mind when I read the challenge was this song, which I heartily agree with. Here are the first two verses:

Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee

    Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee    
    God of glory, Lord of love;
    Hearts unfold like flow’rs before Thee,
    Op’ning to the sun above.
    Melt the clouds of sin and sadness;
    Drive the dark of doubt away;
    Giver of immortal gladness,
    Fill us with the light of day!
    
    All Thy works with joy surround Thee,
    Earth and heav’n reflect Thy rays,
    Stars and angels sing around Thee,
    Center of unbroken praise.
    Field and forest, vale and mountain,
    Flow’ry meadow, flashing sea,
    Singing bird and flowing fountain
    Call us to rejoice in Thee.

    Henry J van Dyke
    1852-1933

Art In Many Forms

~ Christine Goodnough ~ 5 Comments

The Ragtag Daily Prompt word for today is ART

I’ve tended to think of ARTIST primarily as PAINTER…

Ina Hall — Pixabay

or someone who draws…

But ART takes so many forms…

RitaE — Pixabay
conger designs — Pixabay

And there are those who ply their craft with words…

Word artist at work
weaving tales of bright ribbons
gift-wrapped adventures

Homemaking is an art; leadership is an art. Diplomacy — knowing the right thing to say at the right time — is an art. Artists “sweat the small stuff” and usually make the world a brighter, more cheerful place because of their efforts.

Weekend Writing Prompt

~ Christine Goodnough ~ 13 Comments

The Weekend Writing Prompt on Sammi’s blog is OPPOSITE. Yesterday I decided to give LETHARGY the boot and compose a response. Then I went even further to banish the blahs: I got out my paints, sitting in a closet for a year now, and tried my hand at IMPRESSIONISM. But today WordPress OPPOSED me when I tried to WRITE. It treated me as a stranger! Just a visitor. Guess I’ve been away too long? Anyway, it took a bit of doing to get the WRITE button to appear so I could post this. (And now it won’t give me an EDIT button.) 😦

ADRIFT

Waves of lethargy engulf me! I paddle furiously but they’re sweeping in opposite directions from my dreams: those sewing, writing, painting projects calling from the shores of productivity. Oh, these relaxing waves! So easy to float along – but for those jagged rocks of scruple.

And here’s my attempt at an impressionist landscape. (Tans and yellows look overly bright in this pic.)

Memories of Montréal

~ Christine Goodnough ~ 10 Comments

For some reason this morning I started to think about the four years we lived in Montréal, riding the subway, visiting the Old Port, the street musicians. Here are a few memories…

Old Port buskers
captivating Andes flutes
drummer a beat behind

stilt man
steps up his McGill tuition
future architect

subway guitar player
revs up as we pass
notes in his case

“just a dollar madam
milk for my little girl”
here’s hoping

dusty old derelict
his haunting “Oh Danny Boy”
pulls out tears and toonies

shivering beggar
on a downtown street
I donate my lunch

Latino singer
my silly feet start dancing
“ba ba bamba”

Image: efes — Pixabay