This simple piece is in the travel journal I took on vacation to Mexico. It was my first vacation in nine years without schlepping along mounds of homework. Instead, I brought a variety of art supplies on vacation but with a limited selection of colors (particularly with the "wet" materials), and a recycled book to make an "altered book" journal. I prepared a generic background on a few pages before leaving home, including the blue acrylic here with the rubber stamping on the right side. Once on vacation I used the prepared pages to start the "muse" for continued art and reflection. Mixing art with theology is very different from a traditional written journal which includes mostly words, often "dumping" the words out without much thought or reflection. In contrast, artsy theology uses very few (if any) words and listening to God through the doing of the art is integral to the artful reflection. The blue here represents the ocean and the serenity of sitting in the shade of the umbrella with no agenda but to be still before the Lord. The shells are from the beach at Todos Santos, and I included three as a representation of Triunity. The message I was hearing through my time of rest was that "a wonderful work of God" is permission to rest, to be still, to listen, and to receive instruction rather than (always) giving direction. The completed journal page is a reminder that I have permission to give myself permission to be still and rest and know that God is God.
