By the Brook Cherith; 2020; 20" x 28"; mixed media: watercolor, ink, pastel, chalk, acrylic. I tear through the forest, branches ripping at my skin. The trees thin and my feet bog in mud. I fight to lift them, heavily weighted, until bursts of vegetation give way to drifts of sand. Then stumbling, I sink…Read more By the Brook Cherith
birds
Above All, Keep Your Heart Free
When Mugabe, thirty-plus-year year dictator of Zimbabwe, bulldozed neighborhoods who didn’t vote for him and committed other horrendous human rights abuses, my friends took international journalists to witness his crimes. And paid for it by ending up on the government hit list. L describes how she and her husband, a pastor, fell asleep at night…Read more Above All, Keep Your Heart Free
Out of Flames… Wings
As I began to paint again, irresistibly drawn by "the stronger pull," an old theme re-surfaces. The idea that out of the fiercest flames of our lives, we are granted wings to fly high - and carry others with us. The Wings are Mine Dense winged creature clawing my chest - cawing over charred dreams,…Read more Out of Flames… Wings
When Your Child Leaves Home
The experts say: when your child is moving away from home, don't let your him or her see you cry! Smile with your child; cry with other parents. I tried to follow their advice, I really did. I rarely cry; but one recent day, with two of my sons' departures to out-of-state locations less than…Read more When Your Child Leaves Home
Resurrection
What if Love has the power to pull you through darkness into looming space so broad and free it takes your breath away? And what if Love's mighty agenda is to crown you with the treasures gathered in darkness? What if Love knows the way to resurrection? ........................................................... I am convinced that the theme of death and resurrection is encoded…Read more Resurrection
A Painting Path (A Creative Process)
When painting, I struggle for equilibrium between spontaneity and purpose, freedom and planning, energy and control. After four years of painting full-time, of steadfast exploration, perhaps I am finally finding a rhythm. My most recent work, The Other Side, emerges from this path of painting. Sometimes someone will ask me how long it takes to…Read more A Painting Path (A Creative Process)
The Bird Must Fly
It's the heart splayed, soul displayed feeling. Vulnerable, that's how it feels to walk into a new gallery with art in hand, even if you already know your piece is accepted into the show. And even more so in a new city. A new city, and yet an old city. I graduated from the University…Read more The Bird Must Fly
Arise (2)
Song of Solomon 2:10-13 “My beloved responded and said to me, ‘Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, And come along. For behold, the winter is past, The rain is over and gone. The flowers have already appeared in the land; The time has arrived for pruning the vines, And the voice of the turtledove…Read more Arise (2)
Colleen Briggs Art & Writing 