Category Archives: Artistic Writings

Art photo and writing collection relating to lifetime experiences.

Be Careful What You Ask For

be careful what you ask for

“An Open Door,” photograph by Felecia R. Weber, OntheWingofaDove.com

 

Be careful what you ask for…the power of prayer is real…when you ask, be prepared to receive!

“Be careful what you ask for.”  I’ve heard that phrase many times before and disregarded it as just another cliche.  Lately, however, I have a much different attitude towards it…now, I surely believe it to be true!  When we ask for something fervently, diligently seeking the Lord’s will in what we are asking for, the answer he gives may not always be what we’ve expected.  In fact, the answer can sometimes seem like the opposite of what we’ve asked for.  Well, I am here to tell you that the answer is always the best one when it is God who does the answering.

I have never known this truth in a more real sense until recently, when my dear husband was diagnosed with tonsilar cancer several months ago.  Of course, my prayer all along has been that God would heal my husband of this awful disease and restore him to complete health.  At the same time, and only by God’s grace and strength, I have also asked that his will be done; for I know that in all circumstances “…God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28.

We can never know what we will face in life; as we live each day the troubles and blessings unfold to shape our own story.  Our wants and needs all change to some degree, but we have expectations that they will be fulfilled, preferably in the way that we plan for them to.  That is the crux of what I want to convey here…when we ask God to fulfill our needs, we know in faith that he will answer us.  It is not so much that one needs to “be careful what you ask for,” but rather, “be careful how you accept what you’ve been given.”

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”  Matthew 7:7

For me, asking for my husband’s healing has opened up a multitude of answers from God that are not exactly what I’ve asked for, he has not been healed, but the answers are blessings nonetheless.  In fact, I can honestly say that I feel privileged to have had to face and experience this trial.  You see, when I am going through dark times such as this, that is when my focus is on God, and it is then that I can fully understand and accept with open arms all of the good that he is doing in my life.

Be careful what you ask for?  No need, because when God does the answering it’s all good!

Peace to you,

Felecia

 

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A Day In The Life

A day in the life

“Gizmo,” (graphite pencil drawing by Felecia R. Weber, OntheWingofaDove.com)

 

A day in the life…our lives are filled with so many things; never lose sight of your passion for living.

“All my life, I always wanted to be somebody.  Now I see that I should have been more specific.” Jane Wagner

It is easy to get so caught up in life’s “daily grind” that we lose sight of the overall picture.  Our focus becomes blurred between what we do and who we are.  Each of us are unique and were born with a purpose.  It is not always easy to determine what that purpose is, but finding it can fill our days with so much meaning and provide an entirely new vision for who we can become.

Sometimes I sit and close my eyes and imagine what it might have been like to have lived in a different era.  I think of how tedious it must have been living in ages where the modern conveniences that we enjoy today were inconceivable.  Yet, those simpler times provided the basis for imaginations to gradually develop and produce those very things.  It makes me believe more an more that old saying “…if you can dream it, you can become it”.

Living our daily lives in the present, in the reality of each day is what we must do; we are responsible for our own well-being.  Peering beyond that, being sensitive to who we really are and why we are alive, well that is essential too.  In fact, I dare say that is what truly sustains us.  Do you agree?

“Live life to the fullest, leave nothing undone…after all, isn’t that how the best races are won?  Your passions, they strive when you give them a go.  Do not wait, start today…let vitality flow!”  Felecia R. Weber, OntheWingofaDove.com

Peace and love,

Felecia

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Perpetual Motion

Perpetual Motion 1

“C’est la vie!,” photograph by Felecia R. Weber, OntheWingofaDove.com

 

Perpetual Motion…Life, vita, vida, vie…whichever way you pronounce it, it never stands still.

“I am a spiritual being having a human experience.  My life is a continual unfoldment of my divine potential.” (Author unknown)

With this new season of freshness, growth and renewal upon us, I can’t help but think of how life is in perpetual motion.  Life itself is a constant cycle of birth, growth, death, and rebirth, growth, and on it goes.  The seasons demonstrate this circle of movement so well.  The dark, cold shadow of winter, can sometimes feel like death with its subdued bleakness surrounding us.  The early light and sprouting vitality of spring is reminiscent of the joy and brightness that we experience in our youth.  The intense heat of summer’s blaze is equal to the confidence and strength that propels us along through our adult years.  Alas, the crowning glory that comes with a lifetime of wisdom and knowledge, fades as quietly as does the fullness of autumn’s majestic colors…life drifts away into subtle hues of gray…and darkness rules once again for  a season.

“Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring.  What is your life?  For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.”  James 4:14

Life, vita, vida,vie…whichever way you pronounce it, it never stands still.  It is fascinating to see this principle in every living thing.  Plants sprout from seeds that have been sowed beneath rich, dark soil where they appear to be dead.  Before long, tiny green leaves develop and buds blossom in the matchless beauty of delicate petals that are seemingly here today, and gone tomorrow.  But oh what sweetness their fragrance brings.  And when they are spent, their perfume lingers for all to enjoy.

Perpetual Motion 2

“Vibrance,” photograph by Felecia R. Weber, OntheWingofaDove.com

As with all living things, we all serve a purpose and its meaning fold during every stage of our lives.  We live our days through season after season, year after year.  Like the showers of spring help to grow the brilliance of a field of wildflowers in the summertime; our tears wash away our pain and disappointment, making way for the glimmer of a smile when good news comes.  The pensive mood that brews when watching a leaf bursting with russet hues falling gently to the ground in autumn, mimics the way we feel when we realize how much of our lives have already been lived.  There is something starkly compelling about peering out at a winterscape from a window, safe and warm inside.  The blustery wind that blows and howls outside, they echo death’s hollow song…the melody is one that we will all someday become familiar with.  Yet we will live on in the hearts of those who remember us and draw inspiration and vitality from all that we’ve left behind.

Whatever stage you are in, may you experience the perpetual motion of your life in a beautifully and wondrous way.

 

I bid you peace and love,

Felecia

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Something More

Something More

“Seagulls in Flight,” photograph by David Brown

Something more…personal growth sometimes feels like going into the unknown…something challenging, something intriguing…something more.

“Jonathan Livingston Seagull, unashamed, stretching his wings again in that trembling hard curve–slowing, slowing, and stalling once more–was no ordinary bird.” (Excerpt taken from the book Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach)

Have you given much thought about what you want out of life?  Your limits; what you are capable of?  What if you dared to go beyond…to find something more? These are pretty challenging questions I know.  We all have various roles that we play in our daily lives.  The demands of each day cannot be set aside, and we must tend to them. We go about fulfilling the tasks at hand sometimes automatically, with little effort or thought put into each activity.  Before we know it, the sun has set, night has fallen, and a new day is on the horizon….with its own set of challenges.  How can we possibly go beyond all of that? Continue reading →

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When the Enemy Strikes

When the Enemy Strikes

“A Winter Freeze,” photograph by Martin Watson

When the enemy strikes…how do you win the battle?

“Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life.  You stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes; with your right hand you save me.” Psalm 138:7

The word enemy is defined as someone who hates another or something that harms or threatens someone or something.  With such a sobering definition, having an enemy is a foreboding prospect.  I doubt that anyone welcomes the thought of having an enemy, but there are times when I feel that I am being attacked by all sorts of “enemies” from every direction in life. Continue reading →

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A Different Point of View

A Different Point of View

“A Different Point of View,” photograph by Lewis Eliacopoulos, Festibrate.com

A Different Point of View…on being an artist’s model.

“One thing that I love about being an artist’s model, is the stillness, the quiet. It is a solitary thing that I experience all my own because for those several minutes that I am in a particular pose, I become that moment in time, that form, that being. I hold onto it and embrace it, the beauty of it, the intensity of it, and I never experience the same thing again.  It’s like taking on a new identity with every pose, something that I’ve created that is my own that can only be interpreted by others…beyond reality, an extension of life itself.” Felecia R. Weber, OntheWingofaDove.com

I’ve always been amazed at how differently the artist’s eye views its subject.  For me, it all starts with a preconceived vision of the image I would like to end up seeing on the paper.  Of course, if I am drawing a flower, I want it to look like a flower, or a dancer, to look like a dancer…but there is more.  I am not always trying to capture an exact likeness of the subject, but I am also trying to convey what I am feeling while drawing it.  To put a part of myself into it, to make it uniquely mine.

When I think about it, I suppose I do the same thing when I am the subject.  Posing for a painting or a sketch, whether it is a two-minute gesture or a 30-minute seated pose, can be as creative as when I am on the other side of the canvas or sketchpad.  Art modeling is not as easy as it may seem, you’d be surprised how much stamina it takes to hold what appears to be even the simplest of poses.  My mind quickly fills with all sorts of thoughts, while I am in a pose…counting out the minutes for shorter poses; wondering if I’ve set my timer properly as I get toward the end of longer ones.  I envision the series of poses that I’ve practiced over and over before hand, making sure that I can move into the next gesture with grace and ease.  Will the next pose be too much like this one?  Is it interesting enough to challenge the artists’ skills?  Hmmm, I wish I’d knelt down on my pillow instead of on the hard wooden floor for this pose!  These are all the sorts of things that whirl through my mind while I am on the platform…but there is another dimension that filters through me that makes art modeling such a unique experience for me.

A Different Point of View

A figure study, painting by Martin Watson

As when I am seated in front of my own drawing board, I also have a vision of what I’d like the pose to look like when the artist interprets it using his chosen medium.  With each pose, I try to exude a certain feeling or mood…the fluidity of an adagio as a brush  strokes the bold, angular lines of an arabesque.  Or the quiet hashes that fill in the dark shades that land on my face in a pencil-sketched portrait.  What I see staring back at me as I peruse the studio during a break, is always fascinating.  You see, not only is there a part of me woven into the works of art before me, but each artist has poured out their own color, their own vibrancy, their own passion into each piece as well.  In essence, what has been created is a new translation of me…a different point of view.

Peace,

Felecia

 

 

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My Dreams, My Journey

My Dreams, My Journey

“The Octopus,” 1912, Alvin Langdon Coburn. Image taken from a page of the 2011 Desk Calendar, courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art Store

My dreams, my journey…traveling through life is quite an adventure.

Sometimes life can feel like a journey.  With no map to guide us, it is surprisingly easy to get off the beaten path, and end up heading in an entirely new direction.  I must admit that I have a terrible sense of direction…just ask anyone who knows me personally and they will confirm that to be true.  I couldn’t tell you whether I am heading east or west, north or south, to save my life!  Whenever I plan to travel to some place new, I make certain that I have a map, written directions, and GPS readily on hand to get me there.  When traveling along the road of life, however, there is no compass, there are no street signs, there may even be a few detours, which can be much harder to navigate.  So what is it that guides us?  How do we find our way?

“Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you.”  Ralph Waldo Emerson

For me, it seems I travel my life’s journey even in my sleep.  I have a recurring dream that crept into my slumber just recently.  I am in my car driving to work, motoring along on my usual route.  As I proceed,  I notice that the road is getting progressively narrow, and the smooth surface of the asphalt is getting rougher and rockier…before I know it the road is littered with stones; some as large as boulders!  At this point, my vehicle is now a bicycle which I am frantically pedaling for fear I will be late for work.  I am not alone on the road at this point as now there is a little girl, also on a bicycle, weaving back and forth along the path in front of me.  She gets so close sometimes that I think I’ll topple over her.  Finally I step off of my bike and wheel it along side of me, all the while the little girl laces her jagged string of distractions closer and tighter around me.  I keep trudging along for a while in this manner, trying to avoid her.  Suddenly the little girl disappears, trailing off onto some discreet trail. The rocky road ends  and before me is a huge majestic view of a never-ending valley.

That dream varies here and there whenever I dream it, but the feeling that I have when I awaken from it is always the same.  I have this overwhelming sense of lightness of being and an excitement that makes me want to jump out of bed and start afresh.  What lies in the hours ahead of me beckons me as if I am about to embark on a new journey….a wonderful adventure!  Certainly I have an idea of what the day before me holds, the things that make up my daily routine.  But like the little girl in my dream who keeps seemingly to get in the way of my travels, the challenges and surprises that will surely cause me to alter my normal route, often times are the very things that lead to the best destination for me.  The way is not always clear, the mode of transportation from one interruption to the next frustration may not always be ideal. One thing is for sure, holding on tightly to the reigns of what God has revealed to me and continually treading forward in that, I know that I will get to where I need to be each step of the way.

How about you? As you look back at the souvenirs of your life’s journey so far, remembering the paths that have led to where you are now…what is it that has brought you there; where will your journey take you?

Peace,

Felecia

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A Bit of Myself

A Bit of Myself

Study of a Rose blossom, photograph by Martin Watson

A Bit of Myself…sharing the secrets of my soul.

I must admit that I have had a bit of a difficult time getting my thoughts down on paper for this post.  I knew what I wanted to say, but I just couldn’t seem to formulate the words. Thinking back on things that’d read or seen that would perhaps inspire me, I came across this excerpt from the classic story “The Picture of Dorian Gray” by Oscar Wilde:

Basil Hallward:  “every portrait that is painted with feeling is a portrait of the artist, not the sitter.  The sitter is merely the accident, the occasion.  It is not he who is revealed by the painter; it is rather the painter who, on the colored canvas, reveals himself.  The reason I will not exhibit this picture is that I am afraid that I have shown in it the secret of my own soul.”

When I first read this passage, I must say that I had to reread it a couple of times and sort of catch my breath. Continue reading →

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