girl sleeping before open window

Originally uploaded by bbmarie.

I have been painting out side as often as I can. I have a portable easil and paint box that fits into the bike trailer. I leave early in the morning and am gone for maybe and hour and a half or two hours. I love this going out and painting landscape. It is a good struggle that helps me see and appreciate the world around me. It uncovers hidden beauty.

This painting of the woman who is reclining on the sofa has a scene of Grand Rapids in the background as seen from the Wealthy Street overpass. This is one of my favorite views of our city.

The city lays down like a young man’s dream.

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Beerhorst Family Art Show Sept. ‘07

Originally uploaded by bbmarie.

We have never done a Family Art Show this time of year. This is something new for us and we are excited about it. One of the things I love about these show is that it is something we come together on as a whole family. Rose is making more variations of her sockmonsters. Pearl is making more of her wonderful thick pot holders bursting with unsual and beautiful color combinations.

Brenda is at this very moment sitting in a comfy old winged chair making flower pins from pieces of wool left over from her hooked rugs. It is a cold rainy day and Brenda is in that old chair working away. Dinner is done and the dishes washed and put away. The little girls are what you would expect after two solid days of cold and rainy weather keeping them inside. There is a compression that happens with in our family from time to time that is almost unbearable. The little puddle of calm Brenda has in her chair over by the window is hard won and very neccessary. After I finnish here I will attempt some work in the studio for maybe an hour or so. There is no electricity out in the carriage house so this means I drag an extension cord out there from the basement so I can use a lamp next to my easil. I love natural light but some times to carve out a little time in the evening to paint means a light bulb.

This has really been a tough day for us. Lately it is as if God is alowing us to feel our total dependence on him. I know that this is a very important and valuable time but it is also hard. Maybe it is a bit what a pregnant woman feels when she is so uncomfortable as her due time draws near. She is carring a heavy burden that makes so many of lifes everday activities more difficult and awkward and yet she can bear with this hardship beause of what she has to look forward to. Similarly I know that there is some real beauty and wisdom on the other side of this valley we are walking through right now.

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apple pie

Originally uploaded by bbmarie.

Earlier in the week Pearl and I picked a couple of big bags of apples from a old apple tree in our neighborhood. It is one of those city fruit trees that no one seems to notice or do anything with. The apples are bumpy and blemished from neglect but still work great for cooking. They are even beautiful in their bumby irregularity and spots.

We are in a time right now as a family of financial vulnerability so picking up apples from a neglected city fruit tree makes a lot sense for us right now. God always provides for us. And it seems like times like these when things get kind of scary his provision becomes even more tangable some how. It is as if God allows these situations for us to be reminded of our total dependence on him. It is in these times that we seek him out. These times are very uncomfortable but good. It’s like those nights that are hard to fall into sleep because you are so full of worries and then you begin to pray and end up falling asleep knowing that somehow things are going to just work out some how and the next day of so something happens to give you hope again.

That pie tasted so good. It tasted good becuase we were hungry. It tasted good becuase we went through the trouble of picking the apples our self. It tasted good becuase it was home made. It tasted good because it was so clearly from God’s hand. I really appreciate this hard time we are in right now for the way it makes me feel more alive.

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