Kickstarter is a way for people to raise financial support to help them accomplish creative projects - like publishing a children's book they have written & illustrated. In their own words, "Kickstarter helps artists, musicians, filmmakers, designers, and other creators find the resources and support they need to make their ideas a reality. To date, tens of thousands of creative projects — big and small — have come to life with the support of the Kickstarter community."

Click here, to learn more about my project on kickstarter.

Want to learn all the fun facts about "The Stork & the Sparrow?" Then be sure to like alt on facebook at: facebook.com/aftenonline

Earlier in the summer I had an opportunity to help on a community art project of painting the one of the  local ice rink's walls with a mural. The project was headed up by a Vancouver artist, Richard Tetrault - you can check out his work here: richard-tetrault.ca

Richard is really good at letting others contribute towards his projects. I didn't do much but I did help with the idea sketch, and then helped them present the idea to the City of Vancouver by creating digital versions of what the mural would look like on the actual wall (see photos above). I was glad I was able to help in that way.

I also did get to do a very little bit of the actual painting, but then received medical that while expecting I should stay away from paint - even water-based paint. I am also part of the local public art committee that helped make this project happen.

These are some of the portraits I have taken of a little girl named Hope over the past year. Amazing to see the difference one year can make in the life of a child. So honored to have been able to capture some of these moments.

Lately, I have been busy working on print graphic design projects for a number of clients.

The first is Jackson-Werner, a business development consulting firm. I was asked to create a logo and business card design.

Another is Hiak Homes - house renovators, builders, and consultants in the Vancouver area. They wanted just a one page brochure to give to those interested.

The last was for Peace Mennonite Church. Peace wanted a brochure to give to people, especially in their neighbourhood, that would explain more about the church and was consistent with the website I had built for them.

All the designs reflect the nature and needs of the different companies or organization represented. They were developed through a process of conversation with the clients, so the clients were getting exactly what they wanted. To see more of my graphic design, click here.

This month's painting is maybe my most unusual so far. It’s my first night scene to paint – not just in this series - but ever. I had to go out and by more black paint. And it is thus far the most abstract of my series. I must confess, I found the abstraction difficult. I like things that are neat and orderly and that I can understand.

I didn’t know why certain areas were blacked out – were there shadows or black posts – I could never be certain. Why did so much of it have a yellowy-mustardy tint to it, when the largest lights were white? Why did the “East Van” sign seem to know its exact boundaries and just stay there. All these things and more I didn’t understand when I was painting. I had to paint in faith – faith that the final product would turn out somewhat like how I had seen and imagined it.

As I reflect on my spiritual life and this season of Advent, I often feel the same. I don’t understand as much as I want to. Over the years, I have become less and less convinced of my ability to understand and live-out the Christian faith. Things that used to seem black and white now often seem gray. Not everything is so neat and tidy and easy to understand or translate. I sometimes miss the certainty I used to have  - it seemed safe; it had these nice boundaries that let me know where I stood in the world and before God.

Now I have to deal with the things I don’t understand and that don’t fit in a nice boundaried system. But in the midst of what can often feel like chaos I still believe Jesus is at the centre somehow – that He is in control of my life and this universe.

Grace has stopped being just a concept and has become an experience and extension of Jesus’s love and care for me personally. And this grace has made me more okay with the things that fall into the gray - because I often fall into the gray.

Like many of you, I am often grieved by this broken and unfair world we live in. From natural disasters and human trafficking to racism and friends who long for spouses or children; sometimes things can seem very bleak. But in this season, the darkness cannot have the last word for unto us a child is born, to us a son is given and He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace. He is not God far off, but Immanuel, God with us – who took on our flesh and our concerns who died an unfair and ugly death. Who came to mend this broken world. Who came to bring peace and equity (see Mary’s Song).

The cross of “East Van” reminds us that there is hope even amidst the darkness. Hope in His incarnation. Hope in His life that showed us what it is to truly love and live and be human. Hope in His death and resurrection. Hope that He is holding us even when it feels like we are surrounded by darkness.

As a follow-up to my last post, this time I want to focus on the process of illustrating, the medium I have chosen, and why I have chosen this particular medium.

Illustrating is an interesting art form. It is a companion to the words. They are part of the story like narration can be part of a movie – it gives a different perspective on what is going on. Illustration’s whole purpose is to communicate, and maybe that’s why it seems to be put to the side in the visual art world. For me, it’s a way to help my words come alive.

With my illustrations, I knew in Africa I wouldn’t have a lot of artistic supplies available to me, and so I decided to use only paper and mod-podge, a type of glue you brush on. I brought a stack of canvas boards, scrapbooking paper, cardstock, tissue paper, two large containers of mod-podge, and paint brushes. All things that wouldn’t take up too much room in my suitcase and that were not too expensive either. Necessity truly is the mother of invention.

I think it’s interesting that I am using a medium (scrapbook paper) that is usually used to document people’s personal lives, and instead using it to tell a story that is not really my own.

It has taken me time to discover collage as a means of illustrating. Before this project I had tried illustrating with acrylic paints, but these pieces are mere shadows of what I am able to do with collage. I also thought I would be able to do 24 illustrations in 3 months. Hilarious! By the end of my three months in Malawi, I had done 6 illustrations.

One of the things that I have learned is - illustrating well takes a long time. I recently told someone that it took me 20 hours to do one illustration, and she bluntly asked, “Can’t you do it faster?” I was shocked by this question. It hurt my feelings and took me aback because it made me feel like what I was doing didn’t have value, or if I were a better artist I would be faster. I think at the core of the question though was a lack of understanding of what it takes to be an artist.

To be an artist with integrity, it takes a lot of time. Illustrating is a craft – it takes time to do it well. I’m sure if I had chosen a different medium, it could be faster, but then it wouldn’t be my unique voice. I could also cut corners by drawing in lines or not having so much detail, but by doing that I would lose the depth of my art. Paper lines are different than lines drawn on with sharpies.

I think especially in the Christian world there is a questioning about the value of art. I feel myself having to justify things like taking 20 hours to do one illustration or charging for different services I offer. It’s ok to be an entrepreneur as long as you have a physical building and are meeting a “real” need. It’s as if stories and art are not considered “real” needs in the Christian community, but I think they are because they force us to imagine and empathize – two things we all desperately need more of. 

I know I am not alone in feeling these things, but I also know that I have received great encouragement as well from my friends and family. You have no idea how meaningful even a simple “like” on facebook can be to me. When you are stuck in a room alone with your art work, as I am most days, it is nice to feel connected to people who are supporting you. I sense changes happening in the Christian community to make it more okay to be an artist/writer/creative – thank God, but I know we still have a ways to go.

And so, I continue cutting out little bits of paper and painting on glue to make words come alive. Hopeful that my storybook will get published. Hopeful that others might experience a moment of joy – grace – transcendence one day as they read my book. Hopeful that it might inspire families and communities to draw closer together.

You can view past illustrations & follow me as I create new ones at: instagram.com/aftenlt

As many of you know, I am currently working on a children’s book called “The Stork and the Sparrow.” I have written it, and I am in the process of illustrating it. I started this project over a year ago. I thought it would be something to do while my husband, Greg, and I were in Malawi for three months, but it has turned into so much more. I actually almost gave up on it - last winter and spring it was almost forgotten. Greg kept encouraging me to work on it again. It is nice to have someone who believes in you and your work so much.

I don’t want so much to talk about the content of my story, but want to tell you how I came to tell this particular story and my process in writing it.

It’s a story that came to me from multiple avenues. At its basis it’s a story of a woman I met in Edinburgh about eight years ago. It is also a larger metaphor for those like her. It has definitely been influenced by my Christian faith as well – although, honestly I hope it never gets labeled a “Christian book” because that would keep so many people from reading it, and the woman’s whose story I am telling is not a Christian. And it is also a story about me and my life, as almost every story reflects something of the author as well.

However, I have worked hard to give this story it’s own life apart from me. While in grad school, most of my creative writing was just self-expression - a purging of hurt - a wrestling with myself, and it was all pretty awful when I look back now. I probably needed to do that first though to get it out of me so that I could be a surrogate to other stories. To be able to write things that will impact and inspire others and contribute to culture in a positive way - that is my true desire.

Before I began to truly work on my book, it was just an idea, and I thought about what medium would be best to convey this story. I largely thought about turning it into a short film about two sisters and their father. But then I saw “Rachel Getting Married” and realized my idea had already been executed, and it was way better than I could ever do it. Then I thought of a scene in the movie “Wit” where the main character’s former professor reads the children’s book, “The Runaway Bunny” and recognizes it as a metaphor for the soul and God. I have always loved illustrated children’s books, and even did a guided study in illustration as part of my master’s degree; so I decided to make this the way I would tell my story.

The manuscript itself has gone through many re-writes. After my second draft, I knew the story could be better, but I didn’t know how to make it better. Then I heard of, “Write! Vancouver,” a writer’s conference in Vancouver. The conference intrigued me because it was offering critiques as well as workshops. It was there that I was motivated to continue, but I was also given the tools, guidance, and courage I needed to be quite brutal with my manuscript and transform it into something new and better.

Writing and illustrating are difficult things to do well; I know it may look easy (and it’s sort of supposed to), but it’s not. Over the summer, I would take my story to the park. I had one paragraph printed on each page of paper, and I would take a paragraph at a time and totally rewrite it in most cases. I had to really get my word count down and think about what was essential to my story. I completely cut out one minor character and her story line. And I focused on showing not telling my audience what was going on. At the park, I would be happy if I made it through three pages in an hour, and after about that long my head was tired; there were little pink dots over each word because I had used my pen to count and recount each word to make sure I wasn’t over my 35 words/paragraph allowance I had given myself.

By the end of the summer the story was revised, and I was content with what I had. It was then time to move back to the illustrations, but more on that next time.

You can view past illustrations & follow me as I create new ones at: instagram.com/aftenlt