I love watching birds in flight. The beautiful, majestic bald eagle soars high riding the wind, then dives down toward the water to catch a fish. This is the time of year that people start watching for eagles at Wolf Lodge Bay on Lake Coeur d'Alene, mid November to end of January, with the peak between Christmas and New Years. Last year peaked 217 eagles were counted on December 30 at Wolf Lodge Bay. The eagles come to feed on the kokanee salmon. Several birds can be spotted on the same trees. How many do you see in the photo here? I count 5.

Isaiah wrote: "but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not be faint."

The closest I come to flying is in an airplane. I recently took a trip to Colorado and on one of the flights we experienced a lot of turbulence (more than I remember ever experiencing before). I will admit that a plane dropping what feels like 2-3 feet suddenly and shifting and swaying makes me extremely nervous, terrified. I have an active imagination that can picture way too many scenarios. I realized that I could panic or I could trust the pilot, who had probably flown through plenty of turbulence, and pray. So I closed my eyes and relaxed. I allowed myself to ride the waves of air. It was like a rollercoaster up, down, toss to the right, now the left, drop and up again...It was not nearly so bad as I thought it would be.

And as I sat through it and relaxed into it, I began to think about my fears. How many of my fears are based on being out of control? How much do I not enjoy the things that put me in that position, like down hill skiing, roller coasters, huge water slides. Yet as an artist, very little of an art business is really under my control. I cannot predict what will sell or touch someone's heart. I cannot know which classes people will want to take. Oh I try and I stress myself out over it all.

Can I learn to ride the wind with my Lord?

Soaring with the wind like a bird on the wing
Can I learn to let go, close my eyes and trust
Ride the waves of air
Up and down, sideways, up
Trusting He will not let me fall
Let go and just ride
When relaxed it is not nearly so bad
As I thought it would be
Could I learn to enjoy it?
Would that be going too far?
Let it go.
Trust.
Relax in His arms on the waves of the air
Trust and relax
Let it go, that control
Let it go

Painting: On Eagle's Wings

On Eagles' Wings, Watercolor

(Above) 7 in x 11 in

$180.00

Empty Nest, Winter of my Soul

Changes.  
New things come, old things pass.  
It is hard to let go. 
It is hard to say good-bye to what was,
Treasured moments; the good, the bad
Yet 
letting  go is part of living.
It is part of loving.
There will be new beginnings;
New memories;
New changes.
Such is the circle or spiral we live in.
We cannot hold on to the present.
It must fly
Away.
And the empty nest
is the memory we have left.

Painting: Empty Nest

All Who are Thirsty, Come Drink from the Living Water...

Jesus' invitation to come and drink from his living water has been coupled with the world water crisis.

I lead us to reflect on how each theme teaches us about the other and how God’s call and our response to his living water intersects His call and our response to the world water crises.

It is a full worship service experience, with songs, sermonette and painting display.

Cost:

a free-will donation and travel expenses outside of Edmonton. Some Originals, Prints and cards will be available for purchase afterwards.

Paintings in this series that would be displayed.

Comments about the “Living Water” meditation and worship series:

Julie and Sam, thank you so much for all your deep thoughts and heart and beauty you brought to worship. You connected the scriptures of Living Water in many ways I had previously not thought of. Your artwork is of course so beautiful and inspiring to me. Thanks for coming to Breton.

Thanks Julie for displaying your art at this conference. I really like your new pieces especially "River of Delight" and "Alpine Meadow" - Love the water theme. - Rick Heavenor

Loved the artwork and Poetry. Added greatly to the focus. - J. Hareuther

Painting: My Fortress

God is Our Refuge Meditation and Worship Service

Based on six Hebrew words for “refuge,” the 10 paintings, scripture and meditations reflect on our relationship with God as our refuge.
There is a power point, music, scripture readings, and meditations for the 50 min worship service. The paintings and prints are displayed with meditations.

I was fascinated as I began to dig into the word “refuge”. I discovered seven Hebrew words which can translate into refuge. Six of them refer to our relationship with God

One or two paintings depict each of the six Hebrew words. Each painting has a meditation, a story and scripture which make up the meditation display.

Also available is a corporate worship experience using 7 of the paintings in a power point with meditations and scripture and songs of worship. The service is about 50 minutes long.

Cost:

a free-will donation and travel expenses outside of Edmonton. Some Originals, Prints and cards will be available for purchase afterwards.

Paintings in this series that would be displayed.

Comments about the “God is my
Refuge” meditation and worship series:

This is Great! Appreciate the way you make your art display a worship experience by sharing your spiritual journey! - I.S.

Beautiful power point presentation. Your artwork is truly inspiring.

Long have we needed the bold strokes that could connect a spledidly made world with the truth of Logos held up against the light of our own anguish (and delight) of soul. Bless you in your calling to daw those lines. - Neil White

Julie had an amazing impact on our congregation with her unique style of worship and art. Many individuals are visual, so to be part of a service that offered so much visual art connected to scripture was inspiring. - M. Bevan

Thanks for inviting me today. God truly does meet us where we are. I believe He was speaking to me today through this series. Praise be to Him for your talent and the way He works through you. - Deb Cautley