What i want to say today...

I am going on break!
Three days of calmness...sleeping...movies...sleeping...drawing.
I can't wait.

PS: I found you. You were covered in tiredness and caughs. Good to see a glimpse of you.

what i couldn't say tonight...

Ouch...did you enjoy that?
Twice your razor sharp sarcastic tongue and accompanying actions cut deep.
I didn't expect this from you...
I use to admire your kind heart and soft spirit -
come to think of it, i haven't seen it for a while -
BUT the way you spoke to me today and the way you acted scares me...

Where are you?
Are you okay?
Did i hurt you in some way?

Our friendship means the world to me and for it i shall fight!
I forgive you.
I am here for you,
whenever you are ready to come back...

Phantastic!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, i know...you don't spell it like that!

Last night i sat in the middle of a jampacked Lyric Theatre in Sydney Australia enjoying a fantastic live performance of 'Phantom of the Opera'. As this was my first time to such an event i am amazed. The creativity, the professionalism, the clever hiding of cables and wires, the backdrops, the lighting...i can go on all day!

I love it.

I am now a fan of the theatre.

One of my closest friends' mother paid for us to go. This is truly one of the biggest gifts i have received. I didn't take any pics of us inside because we werent allowed to take any inside the theatre. I think i will look into sketching the event and maybe posting that? Or just post smoke signals? Dunno...i did however document Bridget and myself infront of a poster of the opera we intended. Oh! And i have the ticket as proof...sorted i can now scrapbook it for my unborn children!

I now find myself in a state of creativeness...i have all this ideas and motivation to draw but am in need of a subject/object.

Any ideas?

Comfort with chocolate sauce...

I am a comfort eater.
I eat when i seek to feel comfortable.
When i stress...i stuff my face with chocolate cake, or cookies, or gummy bears, or ship's food.
When i miss home...i eat some more.
When i think of the state of my somewhat confused heart...i eat.
When i want to avoid the one who broke my heart...i eat.

During the last 5 months i have been on an emotional roller coaster. My waist has also expanded and clothes have obviously become more tight fitting.

I don't want to do this anymore.
I want to eat in moderation...

I want to be comfortable in my body again!

Sydney Australia

Above: Three Crazy ones posing in front of the Harbour Bridge

Above: This is such a beautiful structure... i still can't believe that i am in Sydney!

Above: Dodo, Ginny and Me in the largest Imax screen in Australia-world.

Above: That's me infront of the Sydney Opera house!!

a twist in my heART?

After a somewhat strange day yesterday, today feels like i just won the lottery.
You see yesterday i thought that someone pasted a sign on my forehead asking all the people to stare at me. 3 times i found 3 different people staring at me as if i had leftovers from my sandwich stuck in my front teeth!
(If you have ever seen the movie "Never been Kissed' - which i often refer to as being a movie about my life - i felt like the leading lady who at one point ran through the corridors of her high school while everyone was looking at her. She was wondering why and couldnt figure out until she came to the mirror in the bathroom...)
So i got back to my cabin and after checking myself out in the mirror and finding everything in place i had to ask my cabinmate if there was something i missed...NO! was the answer i was looking for and the one i got.
I woke up this morning with an artwork in which i would draw my frustration and curiousity.
But then,
Today i was in charge of planning and running a youth programme in which we challenged them for to get out of their comfort zones and into missions. This programme was not a brainfart and definately not anything i came up with - yip you have guessed it...Devine Inspiration!!!!
Everything went well and was exactly as i pictured it. I am so excited and just want to capture this on a piece of paper...oh how do you draw excitement? How does one capture gratitude?
Guess you have to watch this space as i might end up posting some of my art sooner or later.

The story of a whale and dolphins

Oh what a voyage. The first night i was part of a creative team that put on a short programme in which we got the crew of the ship to report about the things they saw God doing in Brisbane.
It was such a fun night but after spending an hour on the stage trying to keep upright...my supper did not agree with the liquids in my stomache. I got out of the main lounge in good time and spent the next 10 minutes on the outside deck getting fresh and freezing air!
The next day i heard of someone who spotted dolphins and i became jealous. In my two and a half years onboard the ship i had never seen a dolphin or a whale.
As you could see by the pictures posted below that changed around lunch time the day after.
I usually take a picture of the horison/clouds after lunch time each day of the voyage. I was curious when is saw about 5 crew members leaning over the bow and shouting like crazy. When i finally got up there and leaned over i was more than shocked to see around 7 or 8 dolphins swimming ahead of the ship. Oh my goodness - i thanked God for my camera at that point and for the tremendous blessing of actually seeing flipper up close!
After 20 minutes we heared screams coming from the starboard side (right side). As it turned out we had a private screening of 'Free Willy' next to the ship. Honestly...there was a whale breaching 40 metres from the ship and dolphins leading us to Sydney.
Talk about spectacular!
I still count this as my blessing for that day...such an amazing day.

Dolphins!!!

The picture above is taken from the bow...a nice day don't you think?

Dolphins...off the bow of the ship.

More dolphins...

This is my favourite picture..

Monday outing - 11 Aug 2008

Brisbane City from mount Cootha

Above: Look...a real Koala!!!!

Above: This is me feeding a Kangaroo

( I am the one wearing the green Tshirt! hahahahah)

Candice, Myself Tannie Linda and Oom Chris.

We were the fantastic 4 for the day, having great fun.

I don't know Tannie Linda and Oom Chris that well. I actually only met them a week ago. I sang in the choir with Oom Gerrie (Oom Chris' Dad) who told them to come and look me up when the ship is in Brisbane. They took me in as their own and blessed my socks off! They spoilt me like my mother does on my birthday...crazy. I was so blessed by this day with them and i now know that i do have family in Australia.
Thank you Lord for these kind people...

What?

I went from bubbling with joy to looking for something to stuff my face with. Yes i am a comfort eater and yes i am working on it! I had a great day topped off with a disastrous programme...

Not only did the people not show up - i am having flashbacks of my time in Wellington when no one showed up either - the MC's were interesting in the wrong way. I spent so long working on this programme, planning it making sure everyone is briefed...ag man, Solomon said it and Lifehouse underlined it by saying that it is all to the wind! I was praying most of the day that the people who attend this programme will be touched/impacted in some or other way.

I still remain upset. Yes, i am discouraged, disappointed and hungry! I just had an apple in the hopes that it would make me feel better (at least it is healthier than chocolate!) but it didn't.

I guess i can capture this in an artwork. But then again no one (at least no one i know) likes looking at black pages trying to figure out what is going on...

Mmmm...

the beat of my heart

I am bursting with joy!
It is so difficult to explain. I know it is because i trusted God and He helped me...
The beat of my heart goes...praise God...praise God...praise God...praise God...!!

Today is a great day...i overslept, worked my creative juices to drought, had a great chat with a 5 star friend about my art and now i am off to spend time working on my somewhat overdue newsletter.
Iid i mention that I am also eager to spend some time working on my latest artwork? I sitll have to colour the background. Oh how i love when life is so full of joy. I will enjoy this mountain time while it lasts.

"...until You are everything, i have nothing...but an empty space..."

I woke up this morning with this Lifehouse song in my heart. THe title op this song is "empty space" and can be found on their STANLEY CLIMBFALL cd. It stuck with me most of the morning and sparked an artwork (drawing-kind). After days of having the feeling, i can now sit and enjoy releasing the pent-up creativity...

Just a note about the programme we had on Sunday. God worked through us and touched the hearts of the people. Many came to us afterward and said that it was so good and just what they needed to hear. Honestly...to GOD be the Glory!

Back to drawing...

PS: I took this picture yesterday. It's a view from one of the beaches in Brisbane.

One day i would like to attempt drawing one of these.

Until then i'll settle for taking pictures of my surroundings.

This is the sunset in Brisbane a couple of days ago.

God is the Best artist...no competition!

Racism...

I Hate racism...i know that hate is a strong word...but i REALLY HATE it!
Growing up as a white girl in South Africa i made a choice at a young age not to fall into the trap my forefathers fell into. I grew up colourblind...(how weird does that sound? A colourblind artist? Well you know what i mean.)
In my current job i have to plan some of the on board conferences. This week i have to plan the 'Southern African Meeting' for around 700 South Africans that are living here in Brisbane.
I hear that they have a problem, that they aren't colourblind and that colour is a big issue for them.
My heart hurts just thinking about it. How does God feel when He looks at us/them?
We now have a massive opportunity to reach them...to show them how our rainbow nation functions when GOD is the center.
When He is the center our colours bleed into one, just like the U2 song says!
When He is the center our prejudices disappear and we see only Him...

Oh Father may we glorify you through this event.

How to draw it?

Today was my last break day. After a line up, you get 7 break days to recover from the Braveheart-like battle you just fought. Today was my last one...I spent the days reading, sleeping, watching movies, listening to music and writing a stack of postcards to my supporters back home.
When i woke up this morning, i had this feeling in my hand. It feels like i am holding a pencil. (it's the only way i can think to describe it). This only happens when i need to draw. Sort of withdrawal symptoms...i need to draw, i want to draw, I HAVE TO DRAW. My only problem is i dunno what to draw. Usually my art is about my emotional state and how God is answering it. But since i am in such a good place, i dunno how to portray that. A simple landscape or 'pretty' portrait won't do!
How do you draw the goodness of God? How do you capture all that He means to you? Mmm...my quest for the day: To find the drawing.
Tonight is prayernight on the ship. Usually this is a great time of inspiration as a phrase in one of the worship songs acts as a spark.
Oh i am sooooo excited...

Mamma mia...

I greet you from my tiny bed, laptop balancing on my folded legs and lifehouse serenading through my earphones.

After being back onboard the ship for about a month now, i can honestly say that i haven't been this lonely in a while. Yes our ship is staffed with about 300 crew and yes there are many who speak my language on this international ship, but truly...my heart just wants to talk to my bestest friend.

She is part of the advanced preparation team and was sent ahead of the ship to go and prepare the way. Nothing summarizes great friendship like a cup of Rooibos tea and rusks (proudly South African goodies). Since i am part of the advanced preparation team as well, we don't know when we will see each other again...sad but true. This is ship's life.

But enough of the sad parts. Today i saw MAMMA MIA! with one of my - well i consider her to be a mentor - friends. I laughed so much! There is something about hearing James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) sing an ABBA song that just makes me explode with laughter. There are a couple of innuendo's that the movie could do without...but i do recommend it.

The picture is of Magda and myself. It was taken a few minutes after we left a very cold Wellington NZ.

So i start

After thinking about it...and rethinking, i have decided to put my stories to good use. Now i can share this crazy journey i am on with you folks out there!
Great times to enjoy together!