Find The Light

Another little thumbnail to keep me going while I do bigger projects. I like the color, but the composition... meh. Anytime I draw something on a wacom I give up too early.

~ My Reading List ~

Finished:

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

A fantasy novel about a young girl and prince with very special talents. The writing was fair, but the author lost me when the female character decided that simply having relations with her prince and never marrying him was ok and never changed her mind. Not that I ever expect protagonists to be perfect or to emulate my own faith or morality, but I usually want to rally for my princess's hopes and needs. However, despite this there was an amazing set of chapters where Kasta, the main character, keeps a little girl alive while taking her across a mountain passage. That was thrilling and courageous and lovely.

Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George

I listened to this retelling of a fairytale on audible.com. It was a fantastic experience. I've read several other similar stories but I enjoyed this one abundantly. It needed a few more jokes, but other than that I liked it.

In the middle of:

Interior Castle by Teresa of Avila

This book was written to help Teresa's fellow sisters persevere in prayer and in the spiritual life. She gives very vivid descriptions of a person's journey into the depths of the soul in search of the Beloved. She uses the visual of aid of a castle and its many rooms to describe a person's progress, trials and joys. It is very good and not only because there is a castle involved.

Catholic Christianity by Peter Kreeft

I started this book ages ago. Kreeft helps explain the basic premises of the Catholic faith in a logical and lively manner. This is the kind of book where you can read a chapter here and there depending on your interest but I find that reading it all the way through is the most enriching. Kreeft has a particular talent in breaking down seemingly difficult ideas in to clear concepts.

Princess of Glass by Jessica Day George

A cute little fairytale book, obviously geared to a slightly younger audience that Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow. The language is a little simpler and a bit too 'cool' for my taste, but again I have soft spot for these kinds of books and I've been carrying it with me everywhere.

Late Night

I never went to Catholic School, except for that brief period in first grade before my parents began dragging me around the world, but I have had the privilege of being fed by a number sisters and nuns in the past few years.

St. Therese of Lisieux was a French Carmelite nun who died at only 24. She wrote a beautiful book called, 'The Story of a Soul'. It was her autobiography and it spoke of her thirst and desire to be completely poured out for the love of Jesus. Pope John Paul the Second declared her a Doctor of the Universal Church. One in three women have been given that honor. She called her life with Jesus her little way because there was nothing grand or prestigious about her approach to a life of sanctity.

This color sketch I did the other night did not necessarily spring from deep reflection about the lives of religious sisters, however I find their lives to be a bold statement and it makes me excited to depict them!

... And their habits have a great graphic quality, which makes them wonderful to paint.

~

Fun Fact

A 'nun' is different from a 'religious sister'. A 'nun' is a type of 'religious sister'. What someone is is dependent on the vows she takes and the type of community life she enters into. But don't worry about offending anyone, any religious sister will be happy to let you know if she is a nun and why or why not.

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