Angels and Oranges

Be it a spiritual angel,

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or referring to fun in the snow

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or thinking about the most important event in the realm of Christianity as relating to Jesus' birth when the Angel Gabriel announced to Mary:

Luke 1:26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” 29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

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we are all somehow linked into God's kingdom.  And I believe angels do guide and protect me while in a state of grace.  (More about this here on guidance and protection.)

A few angels from my Christmas display collection:

See the angel furthermost to the left in the picture above?  My mother had that easel angel for many years.  She usually displayed it right beneath a pot of ivy.  I think she must have connected to her heavenly roots each time she gazed on that angel.  Stair-stepping up from the left is a contemporary angel my sister Pam gave me several years ago. I asked for it; wasn't that greedy?  But she willingly complied...I just wanted an angel from her!  Then the angel at the center-most top of the photograph was given to me by my friend Francis eleven years ago before she died that following summer.  I always think of Fran and the good times we had painting together when I hold that fragile pink glass angel. The white angel above was given to me by my friend Carol about 15 years ago.  We met in the early '70's when our husbands were in graduate school in Michigan, and we still keep in touch.

Linking to Inspiration Avenue and the Theme of the Week: Angels

  also linking to Mandarin Orange Monday with a bowl of tangelos and orange squash

What I Did For Love (with leftovers)

You know your leftover turkey in the fridge?  This is what I made at 6:30 AM, because there was a hankering for it:  Curried Chicken Salad

That is Ina, not me...

And is it ever good!!

Thanksgiving Week in the USA

Leaves in our yard...

A close up of the pretty gold craft leaves Betty the Wood Fairy sent me from the UK

Betty took some pictures of leaves while on her walk and inspired me to do the same.  Go look at her silk painting of leaves here.  (She goods such a good job of painting on silk fabric and her music in the background will make you feel you are in the woods taking a walk with her.)

The marigolds, mums and daisy are blooming in the greenhouse even after several nights when the outside temperature was well below freezing.

Using the pretty leaves both from nature and from the hands of a craftsman, as well as mums and marigolds, I tried to mimic the colors in silk.  This is the beginning of a silk painting using those colors and shapes ...

and with more flowers and definition:

Jaquard silk paints on 8 mm silk, finished size 8"x10"

The colors turned out a bit garish, but it is all a learning experiment.  Usually I paint on a heavier silk with nubs, and the colors do not look as they are straight from the bottle.  And on this piece I did not mix colors or water them down.  All a learning curve ... but I think this might perk up an entryway

linking with Mardarin Orange Monday