small things matter

My dearest little bother found a beautiful yellow river rock, that was flecked with brown spots. 
The rock was tumbled perfectly smooth by the river. He gave it to me.

When a child gives you a gift, even if it's a simple rock they just picked up, show genuine gratitude. It might be the only thing they have to give, & they chose to give it to you.

 I made the rock into a little pendant that I wear often. I always think of him when I do.

-GB

Toads in a jar

Two of many, many toads caught during the summer by my little brother.
Did you know that a group of toads is called a "knot" and a group of frogs is called an "army"? 

Dear August

This is just a whimsical note to say that you have been truly wonderful; I have enjoyed every moment of you immensely. I should really address this post to "Summer" because my summer has been beautiful. However August, since you are my favorite month, I shall leave this addressed to you….

If I were to pick my favorite part of you, or something I did with you, I couldn't… I simply have a favorite feeling; it feels like you, August. I love love love the heat & dryness of summer. Low or zero humidity, temperatures in the 90s. Perfect lazy days, days that where you could do anything. Days spent outside. Days spent beneath the summer sun. 

There's a lot of beauty in the ordinary….

It's the windows down, driving fast & silent back roads with blowing hair feeling. 

It's when I can walk straight outside without pausing to fish out a jacket. 

It is curtains dancing around my room because of the breeze that pushes against the fabric. 

My arm hanging out the window, the air rush through my fingers. 

Closing my eyes with the sun shining bright on my face.

It is reading in the hammock.

Butterflies fluttering through the air. 

Heat waves far on the horizon. 

Picking veggies in the garden.

Kayacking down rivers. 

Dusty bare feet. 

When I smell the flowers before I see them.

Warm breezes & dry heat.

It is sunsets after dessert. 

Running at dusk. 

Soft grass & crickets chirping. 

Riding my bike, chasing the sunset.

The smell of moist dirt in the garden. 

Lawnmowers & the sound of rain beating against the windows. 

The purr of a cat, the river's roar in the distance. 

The nighthawks flying fast & silent. 

The motion of rocking chairs on the front porch.  

When it starts to rain, just as the party is ending. 

Clouds flowing over the face of the stars. 

Pockets of shade & long walks along along the river. 

Sunlight sparkling on deep water. 

Thunder echoing in the mountains. 

Golden wheat fields, rippling like water. 

Late nights spent with friends. 

I don't have a favorite moment, I have a favorite feeling. 

-GB

F L O W E R S

Isn't it funny how day by day 

nothing changes, but when you look back 

everything is different? 

~C.S.Lewis 

The garden in August

         

                 Eggplants: here's how I like to cook them!  

Gardneing this year has been good, for the most part. Between thunderstorms & insainly strong wind, it has been very hot and dry. We've run the sprinklers regularly every night for the past 3 months. But I have actually been able to stay on top of things a bit more, then in years past. (Even then, there are many weeds.) It's been a constant battle: me vs. weeds.

Here's what growing this summer:
Eggplants, green beans, amazingly sweet corn, deliciously crunchy carrots, red onions, squash, zucchinis, watermelons, & several varieties of tomatoes & peppers. There are also lots of flowers in the garden & yard blooming.

My back is sore from all the beans I've been picking!
So far, I've picked over 70 pounds! We have canned 72 quarts of beans.
(There's still some beans out there...)
I had never canned anything before - but it's really not hard to do.
It's just an all-day-stay-by-the-stove process.
The kitchen gets hot. 

Here's another post from last year; it has my favorite recipe for green beans. Check it out! 

My garden.

Art I Admire —

Blue Canyon, by Edgar Payne (1883-1947)
What I love about it: The feeling of great distance. The hugeness of the rocks. The beautiful rich colors- you can never have enough purple tones within a painting! The composition & subject matter are great too. And I really like his brush style.

Cousins' Retreat, by Tyler Murphy. What I love about it: It's people, doing what they do! The highlights & contrasts are superb; it really captures that intense afternoon mountain sunlight. Just close your eyes are lay there... This painting is even more vivid, in person.

North Country Morning, by Josh Elliott  What I love about it: This kind of impressionism! There's almost a sense of urgency to it, but it looks so bright & real too. 

Glacial Carvings, by Josh Elliott   What I love it: Everything about this painting is EPIC. Bright colors & shadow tones. Mountains, snow in shadow, the bright sunlit colors… Mmm

I am always moved by bold, colorful painterly landscapes. This style is frequently found among plein air painters. Those who paint to live in the open air. Big fan of Jill Carver. 

Cheese! This piece of art was not titled, it's by Pecorino Ginepro. I have no idea how I found his website - But I really like all of his "cheesy" paintings, & have admired them for quite some time! They are really fun, he paints on wood, & always gets some nice textures. 

Ponte San Giuseppe di Castello, by John Singer Sargent (1856-1925)
There is NO getting around it. In my option, Sargent is the best ever watercolor artist! I simply LOVE his watercolors! He captures things beautifully. There are excellent complementary color uses; warm tones & cool. The composition is suburb, as is the placement of brush strokes... 

New Song from Park City Music!

 
Hey guys! Give it a spin! It's a cinematic song that my brother composed.

Painting in the Mountains

Recently I had the awesome privilege to be painted by three amazing artists: Daniel Keys, Tyler Murphy & Ryan Mellody. You should totally look them & their art up, if you don't know who they are. Here is Key's painting of me:

The whole experience was a lot of fun! We drove to the top of a nearby mountain range, then trudged about 1/4 mile off the road, near some cliffs. They painted me while I held the pose for about 3 hours. (It's a lot harder to do then you think it is!) Then I got to do some painting of my own too. And a large herd of mountain goats decided to stop by. Got some really good pictures of them. This is my fav -

Mountain goat next to Ryan's painting. 

-GB

Kayacking the Yellowstone

So recently I went on a kayacking adventure! 13 miles on the Yellowstone River… it took about  3hrs. The water was still up a little bit from snowmelt… But overall it was lowest it had been all summer. Even then the current was deep & fast. I loved kayacking - I took a few pictures when the water was calm. It looks pretty tame here - but there were numerous class 3 - bordering class 4 -  rapids that we had to go through! It was fun exciting & scary. 

…Later in the day when we were pulling out, we found out that 2 people had drowned on the very stretch of river we had just came down.  Some ambulances & very distraught people were at the finish point. Pretty sobering. Both of the people who perished didn't have on life vests - one victim was a grown man, & the other was a small child. Both were separate incidents.  If you get out this summer - make sure you wear your life vest! They don't always save your life, but they sure can help!  

New Song by Park City Music

That's the latest cinematic song composed by my brother. Give it a listen! Leave a comment here, or on the song! I'd love to see what you think. I really like it; you can almost lose yourself in the sounds, just listen to all the different noises. Or you can chill & let it blend into the background. Either way, it's a fun song.

Sugah Snaps

I been pickin' sugah snap peas from da garden!

(And taking pictures while doing so…;)) 

Ah, can't you just taste the goodness? Sweet, crunchy, mouthwatering peas.

Mmmm.  

Roots: are they bitter?

If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. (Galatians 5:25) 

The other day I was working in the garden. (It's my grasshopper ravaged weed patch, really! Oh the irony!) It was so hot a day, that the mosquitoes were (thankfully) in hiding. While I was pulling weeds, I was thinking about roots. They are so interesting & complex! There are tap roots & fibrous roots, (among other kinds). Roots help anchor the tree or plant in the soil. As the roots penetrate deep into the soil in search of water & nutrients, the roots help to further secure the plant; anchoring it for the storms that will inevitably arise.

Do you have roots in your life? Roots from your past, from your family, or places you have lived? Most people have roots; ties that link us to a place or someone. Some roots go back far, they can be sweet or bitter. Usually deep roots are good, but occasionally, they are the worst kind. 

Take your average weed. It has deep roots & flourishing green leaves. It looks always looks healthy, but it is a weed. Weeds are always unwanted, just as sin is unwanted. Sin can & has unconsciously created deep roots within our hearts. We need to seek these weeds out & uproot them. However, it's a tricky business, because a weed can be mistaken for a real plant!

As I was weeding the bean plants, I purposefully didn't pull a rather sickly looking young plant; I thought it was a bean plant. A few days later I came out & was astonished to see the little runt of a "bean plant" had risen up & choked out the real bean plant! It was a fast growing & deceitful weed. (I pulled the weed out, but the poor bean plant hasn't really survived.)

There may be sin or bitterness growing in our lives, & we have deceived ourselves into thinking,"it's just a little sin, there's nothing wrong"or "this really isn't a problem - Or maybe the bitter weed has grown in your life so subtly that it is just plum unnoticed, save by those who are around you!

Just as bad as the weed's taproot can be, a weak root system on the real bean plant can be deadly. The leaves are lush, green & growing - but roots, the part hidden from our eyes is dead & decaying. The plant has fooled you into thinking it's doing well, even flourishing, when it's truly dying of thirst & want of nourishment.

 

Now ask yourself: Am I fooling others into thinking my life is good? Am I putting on a show, just to impress others? Our sinful hearts get satisfaction from the ego-boosts of accomplishing something in its own power. We will attempt to climb a high cliff, or take on extra responsibilities, or agonize through marathon - all for the satisfaction of conquering a challenge by the force of our own will & the stamina of our own body. (Doing those things isn't necessarily a bad thing; while doing these things, it's the attitude of our heart that matters.) It should always be God's grace that is the doer, inspiration & motivation for all our works. (1 Corinthians 15:10) 

But being sinners, we are all self-centered doers, whether we think so or not. We both need to look deep into our own gardens & examine all the plants & desires that are growing. A works-orientated heart may also express its love of independence & self-achievement by rebelling against courtesy & the Lord. (Galatians 5:19–21). We need to wait upon the Lord for all things, to be sober minded, to have quite & gentle spirits. Every ounce of our strength comes from the Lord! (1 Peter 3:4, Isaiah 40:28-31) We should never forget that. 

Be wary & diligently keep in step with the weeds that are growing in our lives. Just as we should keep in step with the Spirit that guides us. (Galatians 5:25) Let's evaluate our hearts. Is there sin growing under our very nose? Do we have hearts of "faith" or hearts of "works"? Are we angry or hardened because of what's happened in our lives? Sometimes the weed's taproot goes deep & it takes some pretty serious pulling to uproot it. 

Weeds of the heart - Are they stealing the water & joy from our daily life? We can't live without water & nourishment, but we try to fool ourselves into thinking that we can. 

Our souls are ever-thirsty for the true & living Water of Life. Turn to Jesus, let him love you. Let him feed your soul. Plant yourself in Him, grow deep roots in His Word.    

"That according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."  ~Ephesians 3:16-19 

Words On Living

Summer Art Academy!

The classroom I had, was on the 2nd floor of an old unair-conditioned building.
I taught four 1.5 hour classes a day, I was also outside teaching too.

This past week, has been a wonderful blur of excitement. God's blessings are so abundant! It was my second year of teaching for the Summer Art Academy. There were 75+ students at the camp, 26 of them were mine for the week! I taught Basic Drawing & Urban Art - A fun class that covered the challenging basics of drawing, while working indoors/outdoors, using various tools to achieve detailed, realistic & stylized sketches. Students used ink, pencil & charcoal for their drawing mediums. We explored the campus grounds, sketching buildings and landscapes. I focussed primarily on teaching composition: good vs. poor, shading & dramatization,  developing a critical eye, learning perspective, being selective & creative, while having fun! 

I believe I had about as much fun as all the students did! Teaching to a group of kids aged 8-14 is fun & challenging. A lot of work too. I had a classroom to myself, were I did about 1/2 my teaching, the rest of the time I was outside on campus grounds teaching. It was truly amazing to be part of so many kid's lives, sharing the gift of art! 

Students working hard, drawing what they see: buildings, statues, landscapes, etc. exploring the beautiful campus. 

Talented young artists, sketching away! 

-GB

Ps. Here be a link to last year's post on the Academy. :)

Life Under the Beautiful Big Sky

Highlanders and their big shaggy heads. 

Misquotes literally ate me alive while I took this pic. 

The Beartooth Rocky Mountains, snowcapped during the summer. Lush foothills will turn brown soon. 

As the golden sun meets the horizon, rain falls from the sky. 

My good'ole dog of 14 years. 

    

A grand masterpiece painted across the heavens by the Creator. Words cannot express just beautiful this was. 

 

Busy bee in the garden. Macro lens. 

   

The Prickly Pear & my feet. Oh, happy, happy hot summer day!

Promise.

For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. (2 Corinthians 1:20)

If “all the promises of God find their Yes in [Jesus],” then to trust him now in the present is to believe that his promises will come true.

Those are not two separate faiths — trusting him, and believing in his promises. Believing in Jesus means believing that he keeps his word. Being satisfied in the crucified and risen Jesus now includes the belief that at every future moment, to all eternity, nothing will separate us from his love, or keep him from working all things together for good.

Putting it all together, I would say that the spiritual beauty we need to embrace is the beauty of God that will be there for us in the future, certified for us by the glorious grace of the past.

Photo:  I took this after a thunderstorm blew through... It was gorgeous. The air smelled so fresh. 

We need to taste now the spiritual beauty of God in all his past achievements — especially the death and resurrection of Christ for our sins — and in all his promises. Our confidence and trust must be in all that God himself will be for us in the next moment, and in the next month, and in the endless ages of eternity — “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6).

It is he and he alone who will satisfy the soul in the future. And it is the future that has to be secured and satisfied with spiritual riches of glory, if we are to live the radical Christian lives that Christ calls us to live here and now.

If our present enjoyment of Christ now — our present faith — does not have in it the Yes to all God’s promises, it will not embrace the power for radical service in the strength that God (in every future moment) will supply (1 Peter 4:11).

My prayer is that reflecting like this on the essence of faith will help us avoid superficial, oversimplified statements about believing the promises of God. It is a deep and wonderful thing. -Piper