The Calling

I thought I’d post a mixed media picture I did a while ago after I discovered this amazing piece of writing. It’s from something called ‘The Box’ by The Terma Collective. I have no other information. I can’t find what ‘The Box’ is or who The Terma Collective are, but these words really spoke to me at the time.

I believe we all have a calling; something that speaks to us deep in our hearts. Someone described theirs to me recently as a heartbeat that they just had to follow.

In the book of Jeremiah, God makes an amazing promise…

‘For I know the plans I have for you’ says The Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you hope and a future.’ Jeremiah 29:11

God has a plan and a purpose for each and every one of us. He’s given each of us our own unique calling. So what in your life is calling to you? What pulls at your soul? Where will your heart take you when you follow it’s beat? When you can answer these then you may well have found God’s purpose for your life. And when you work towards this you will be truly fulfilled.

How the picture developed
The picture was constructed directly onto a ready-stretched canvas available from lots of art stores. The background of the picture is a collage of some patterned paper, some plain blue paper I had lying around with some torn up strips of verses from Isaiah that speak about Jesus’ calling. I then used blue and white acrylic paint over the top and ink with an ivy- shaped stamp around the edges.

I used oil pastel crayons in white, blue and green to blur some of the edges.

I used watercolour paper to draw the iris on and I coloured it with watercolours and gave it texture and outline with a fine black pen.

The dove was cut from the same text from Isaiah and coloured with oil pastels with added words and an outline in black ink.

And because I love a bit of sparkle I added a bit of glitter to the edges of the iris and dove.

The letters for the title ‘The Calling’ were drawn freehand and coloured in with black ink. I then cut them out individually and coloured over them with white oil pastel and edged each piece with blue oil pastel. The heart was drawn with red/orange pastel and smudged.

It probably seems like a long complicated process but in actual fact it didn’t take long and it just evolved. I find it helps to surround myself with lots of bits and pieces of art and craft goodies and just play. The great thing about mixed media is that if you don’t like something you can just cover it up with something else.

I hope you feel inspired to think about your calling and purpose in life, and perhaps to explore capturing it in an art form.