Today, I painted.

I pulled out my acrylic paints and my partially finished project, and I went to work.

I put a brushstroke of blue, then red...

I painted stroke after stroke until I finally stopped, took a step back, and actually SAW what I had made. To me, it looked flawed, it has missing places and the eyes were dim -- this is what I told myself. However, the more I looked at it, the more I fell in love with it.

I realized that even though it had its flaws, it was MINE. I had made it.

That's when I remembered a quote I had read, it goes something to the effect of, whenever you finish a work of art, be it a masterpiece or a ceramic, go and celebrate, because you have done something most will never do.

With that I realized another thing, I had talent. I had put my time and patience into a work of art, and I had ENJOYED it. I had expressed myself in a way most do not, and I LOVED it. The more I studied the painting, the more I fell in love with it, and with every nick and flaw, I adored it even more. I loved the feeling it gave me.

In this day and age, we NEED more of that.

We are always on our phones, always on a screen, I believe we need more time to see what we can do. To see what our own two hands can create for us to see.

Regardless of where you believe we came from, I believe we were made by a Creator who formed us with his hands. That is my example. He brought beauty from the unlikely, and so I will follow his example.

I will coax the beauty out of my canvas with my brush and paints. I will show the canvas everything it could be.

But most importantly, I will LOVE what I have made, no matter how flawed it becomes, just as the One who created me will love me despite how flawed I become. He will see the missing brushstrokes in me, and the age as it begins to wear on my colors. As my boldness fades, he will still take joy in me, because I am something he created, I am something he MADE. That is how he will always see me.

A work of art is more than paint and canvas, pen and paper or bronze and wire; a work of art is a part of the artist's heart and soul. To create with color is to put part of your being out there for others to see.

I believe that is what I am, a piece of my creator's heart, out here for all to see; and they are a piece of his heart for ME to see.That is how I MUST see them. They are more than flesh and blood, they are a piece of the Creator's soul we must seek to know.

Just as my art is an extension of myself, so we are an extension of our Creator. That is why I wish to paint, I wish to show people the connection we are all looking for, and seeking to understand.

We are His work, we are His heart.