A Royal Wedding

This morning I got up at 4am to fly down to London for the Royal Wedding. I had debated long with myself about going - I've got a lot on and it would make busy things busier - but the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to go, simply to stand there in a flag-waving crowd and join in the cheers as a nation celebrated a fairytale wedding.

First, I'm a wedding photographer. Any wedding thrills me, right down to the detail, and a wedding of this magnificence is heavy on detail and beauty.

Second, I'm an American citizen who just became a British citizen last year. I love the feeling of a national event, and I must admit, of a royal family. I know I come from America, whose founders fled these shores and rid themselves of royalty right quickly, but as Mike Cosper points out, it's not the idea of a king that bothers so much, it's the desire for a good king.  Even the Covenanters had no problem respecting the king; they simply recognised that he was subject to a greater King, and held him to account when he failed to remember that.

And that brings me, to, thirdly, the appeal of these two items together: a Royal Wedding. Because whether the general populus knows it or not, there is a Great Wedding, coming at 'the end of the age', and that will be between Christ and His church.

It did disappoint me a bit, earlier in the week as I read comments on blogs and Facebook and elsewhere, the number of people in this country who were pretty annoyed, frustrated, ticked off, or grumpy about this wedding. Yes, they have plenty to say about politics and government and royalty, but I felt (being a new citizen) that this is our country, and this is a national day of celebration. (Heck, we all got given the day off!)  I guess what is the hardest for me about the complaints is that they are about something that is so beautiful. I'm passionate about beauty. I see it, as this blog title indicates, everywhere. And on a day like this, with custom made gowns and ornate carriages and high church ceilings and marching guards, beauty is everywhere. It's positively sparkling.

 So it feels like a major crime to me to fail to celebrate beauty when it's truly there. People do the same with God and His beauty, too. He sends the sun, they find it too hot. The rain is too wet. The wind, the snow...last Christmas I saw sparkling diamonds everywhere, and many people around me only seemed to see an extra half hour's walk, and an inability to buy two loaves of bread even though their cupboards were full.  There are so many who insist on being grumpy and angry about anything in their lives. Whereas I insist upon seeing beauty everywhere, I insist on seeing God Himself.  Not always easy (and I most certainly get it wrong myself at times). But oh, what beauty is there to be seen, if only you will open your eyes!

So yes, there is a Greater Wedding coming one day. There will be many lining the streets. The Bible says that the great city, the 'new Jerusalem', will be 'adorned as a bride for her husband'. (What a view we got of that today.) And there will also be the haters. Many who say, 'He is no King', and 'We should (or can) rule ourselves'.  They not only refuse to enter into the joy, but they can't.  And I saw that today. Those who were grumpy or frustrated about the wedding didn't go - and those who were excited formed the whole crowd of flag-waving, cheering, happy, friendly, joyful citizens who enjoyed the day from start to finish.

Including me. 

Spring Is Here!

There are many indications that spring has arrived.  It's one of my favourite things, to be dandering down a street, perhaps in a bit of a gloomy mood, or tired from traveling, and suddenly I look up and there before me is a tree in full bloom, the first one I've seen so far, and it brings hope to my heart and renewed energy and enthusiasm to my life. 

So I thought I'd share some of this year's spring displays with you.

The snowdrops at Blair Castle, dripping wet from the falling snow....

Fragile pink blossoms at the Edinburgh Zoo, amongst barren trees and brown bushes...

 
At Bothwell Castle in Scotland, a plethora of green and an inkling of pink...

In London, amidst starkly-outlined buildings of grey and blue, a thin and even spindly tree stands tall amongst the modernity, reminding passers-by of beauty, and grace, and a Creator; beauty, right down to the smallest blossom.

And in Amsterdam, a riotous display of colour in these cheerful yellow things...I'm no good at flower names, but I know beauty and cheer and joy and hope when I see it.  And having just come out of the Van Gogh museum, learning about a man who fought the darkness his whole life, who painted many things but chose to paint sunflowers three different times, with three different backgrounds, this abundance of yellow lit up my world for just a moment.

May these expressions of spring light up your world with a little beauty, too. 

And go out there and take it in. 

Wearin' O' The Green

In honour of St Patrick's Day, I hereby present to you a variety of representations of the colour green.

First, from my home country, I bring you the green of Scotland, found in the grounds of Bothwell Castle, and bearing the hope of spring...

...Raindrops on snowdrops at Blair Castle...

...and a drink called a Highland Mojito which is made with green limes and green mint (and a beautiful amber liqueur called Atholl Brose).

From my own hometown this winter, the green traffic lights, which compared to these other greens appears more of a pale bluish green...

From Cyprus, the dusty sage and forest greens from the grounds of the Kourion Theatre....

From Bali, the brilliant greens of the rice fields.  There's something so peaceful about these, I could have stood there and looked at them all day. 

From Australia, the vibrant green shared with just as intense reds, oranges, and purples...

...as well as the turquoise of the sea-water-swimming pool in Sydney.

But finally, we get to the green greens of Ireland. Here are the woods in Killarney County Park...

 ...and the depths of Granny's Castle near Waterford.

 

Finally, though, we close with a genuine (Northern) Irishman, wearing green...

 

 ...and the pile o' gold at the end of the rainbow.  It may be green in America, but here it's gold!

May the road rise up to meet you!

The Artist Date

Ever had one of those days where you felt like your creativity was just a bit sluggish?  Or that everything had gone a bit stale, and you felt you couldn't really draw, or paint, or take photographs, or write, or any of the creative things you love to do?

And I'm not just speaking to those who consider themselves 'artists'.

It's taken me a long time to realise that not only am I an artist myself, but I am surrounded by other artists - they're everywhere. You're everywhere.

But in many ways, what we know as 'real life' begins to suck the creativity right out of us.

As Picasso said, "Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up."

A few months ago, a friend of mine posted a quote from a book called The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron.

I liked the quote so much that I looked up the book, subsequently bought it, and now I'm engaged in what she calls a 'creativity course' (via book), and what I have found is a process of unblocking.  I don't want to be someone who is only creative on the days that I feel in the mood...if I'm to truly use the gifts God has given me, then they should flow out of a continual creativity, and it is actually possible for that to happen.

So, there are two aspects to this, two suggestions that Julia makes which I've taken on board enthusiastically.  One is to write - just write, anything, for 3 pages every morning.  The second is called an 'artist date', which is 2 hours of something creative just for yourself.  Something different from your usual creative outlet.  For some reason I avoided this artist date for a while.  Perhaps I was fearful that it wouldn't be 'good'.  But what I've read from The Artist's Way, one of the most important keys is to just splash away creatively without constantly judging it.  (My inner critic can be really helpful, but sometimes can be just plain discouraging.)

Last Friday therefore, I took two hours out for painting.  I haven't painted since I can't remember when.  I decided to paint an old brown belt I had lying around, and then since I had extra time, I just whipped out a few little mini-paintings.

I didn't intend to, but I ended up enjoying the results (and the process) so much that I documented it and the results.

Here they are, then, my new belt....

 ...and my mini paintings.

First, I started with something that was a big ol' mess and I eventually turned it into a cheerful sunflower.  Proving, perhaps, that even the ugliest of things can eventually bring joy and beauty?

Next, a few swishes with my brush and I suddenly had what felt to me like a wind woman, with a silvery-grey cloak, hair and flowing cloak waving in the winds and breezes.  It said 'hope' to me, though I'm not sure why.

Next a focused, almost too-bright sunshine.  Reminding me of South Africa (where I had hoped to go this month - but another time!), Cyprus (where I will be going this summer), and Arizona (going there in May).  Fierce, strong, hot, bright, and beautiful.

I played about with the gold and silver paints, and a Bible verse came to mind from Psalm 119, about how the Word of God gives more pleasure "than countless thousands of fine coins of silver and of gold." There's another one, too, that says "The laws of the Lord are perfect, converting the soul...more to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold...sweeter also than honey, and the honeycomb." (Psalm 19)  So some of that gold, and silver, and honeycomb, came out in this painting.

And finally, a red love heart, perhaps left over from Valentine's Day?  It seems to have some bars across it, but they fade from a darker pink to an almost pale white...almost disappearing.  I could go long into detail on that one, but suffice to say I like it. 

I like them all.  I was amazed what came out of my hand in just two hours of a new kind of creativity.  And the total cost was £3.50 (the cost of the belt and the paintbrushes).  All this glory!

It's true - you can't pay money to get this kind of joy.  But I sure had it. 

Let Love Continue.

Valentine's Day was this week.  There are many ways to approach this holiday (great joy, great grumpiness, ignore it altogether), but I love to use it as an excuse to enjoy beauty in things red, white, and sparkling.

One of my favourite things to do is have the girls over for a beautiful dinner, so we did that again this year, softening the lights in the flat and laying out little tea-light candles everywhere.  (You'll notice the Scottish flag still is a prominent feature!)

Partly to make it simple, and partly because we love it so much, our Valentine's Dinner came from the famous Boodle Bar.  So our table was set with chopsticks, as well as roses, carnations, floating candles, and cut glass goblets. 

 

 

 

For a while we just stood and looked at it.  Hayley was so excited before I opened the door to reveal the beauty within that she was leaping around gasping 'I can't stand it! I'm almost afraid!'

But she came round to the beautiful flowers....

 ...as did we all.

Afterwards we pulled out our 2010 goal lists and reviewed them all (with a little hilarity and great congratulations for those who had achieved theirs), and sat down to write out our 2011 goals.  A little belated, but we'd rather do it in February and mean it than join the madding crowds in January and be giving up by now. We're just getting started!

The girls and I had resolved to write out reading lists for 2011, so after we wrote those, we re-discovered Alice in Wonderland in my bookcase and sat reading it aloud to each other.  One of my favourite quotes of all time comes from Lewis Carroll's book:

"The time has come," the Walrus said, "to talk of many things: of shoes - and ships - and sealing wax - of cabbages - and kings - and why the sea is boiling hot -and whether pigs have wings."

May you find beauty in all these things!