My visits to Vietnam with Hope's Promise deeply impacted me (click the link to read the story of the painting above). I painted Sacrificial Love after one of these trips. Recently I had the great privilege of interviewing Dennis Pringle after his trip to Vietnam with Hope's Promise. I wrote the following article for the Hope's Promise…Read more Sole to Soul in Vietnam
Art
The Wings Are Mine
Like a dense, winged creature draped across my chest, it caws over charred dreams, disintegrating into ashes. But still the fire rages. What is left to burn? The bird's merciless wings fan flames hotter and heavy. Until a moment of inexplicable release. Rescue. A force of goodness beating the creature back, forcing it to lift.…Read more The Wings Are Mine
Spring Surely Comes
Winter and spring scuffle for dominance this year in Colorado. Spirea yellow and crab apple pink persevere against steel gray sky. A few days ago, on May 2, snow-bound foothills yielded to patches of white clinging to city shadows. Frozen and formidable, Pikes Peak still anchors winter's battlefront. I will never forget the latest snowfall of…Read more Spring Surely Comes
Failure, Rejection, and Passion
Failure: When you work on a piece for weeks, wrestling the paint and your vision, and they simply refuse to dance together. And you reach the desolate conclusion that it's dead for good, and you rip it in half. It's not a violent gesture, simply an acknowledgment of its state of being. And you feel like you'll never…Read more Failure, Rejection, and Passion
I Am Still Here
Cruel winter winds too fiercely blow. They drive me deep beyond where I can speak. Everything silent except a heart beat, my own. Waiting, listening, I survive. Until the day harsh winds scamper away, tails between legs, ashamed, chased away as the liars they always were. All that was frozen, drop by drop, slides into a…Read more I Am Still Here
Language of the Soul – Chihera’s Music
As a visual artist, I don't know a lot about the technicalities of music; but I do recognize the language of emotion and soul. And, if joy can shape-shift into musical notes, the nimble fingers of Chihera band members know how to conjure it. I first discovered Chihera on a golden late summer evening last…Read more Language of the Soul – Chihera’s Music
My Beloved Mom (& Mother’s Day Gift Ideas)
In 2007, I stood on the banks of the Nile River with my mother. It was a magic life moment that came to symbolize so much of my admiration for her. She is one of the bravest people I know. I wrote about the experience in this post: A Beautiful River in Uganda, excerpt below: "It…Read more My Beloved Mom (& Mother’s Day Gift Ideas)
Strange how hope swells…
Strange how a lantern can appear out of nowhere. Walking barren tracks, and suddenly there's a light in your hand. Sincerely Danielle Shunk (SDS) plunked into my grasp like that. A friend knew a friend, who told her about SDS, who told me. I stepped foot in that magic space and before I knew…Read more Strange how hope swells…
The Power of a Single Flame (Part 2)
When she picked up that first dying man from the gutter, there was no possible way she could foresee the masses across the globe whose lives would be saved. She only knew the fire in her bones could be alleviated no other way. And so she started rescuing, one-by-one, the last and least of the…Read more The Power of a Single Flame (Part 2)
The Power of a Single Flame
What began as a tiny subversive flame in a single heart now rages across the world. First, though, there was a choice: remain in the comfort and familiarity of a religious life, or cast her lot into the teeming chaos of impoverished streets beyond. The flame burned too hot to keep. She quietly shut the…Read more The Power of a Single Flame
Colleen Briggs Images & Writing 