Coffee quietness during shopping season

A quick sketch from...where? You guessed it. Starbucks. It's amazing how you can tell these places no matter where in the world you are.

This was sketched in the lower floor of one of the Starbuck's shops in Basel. Sandee took a picture of me while I made this little drawing.

Mistletoe Anyone?

Growing up in Ohio, I never knew what Mistletoe was. I knew it was involved in a Christmas tradition: something about kissing under a little sprig of the stuff, but still I didn't know anything about the plant itself.
Then I moved to SW Germany. One winter day I wondered, what are all those round green balls in the trees around here? That was the day that I learned about mistletoe.

At the risk of upsetting this cute little Christmas tradition with the "rest of the story"...the fact is mistletoe is a parasite. Mistletoe feeds off of host trees.
I took the photo above through an upstairs window of our apartment this morning. Mistletoe grows in trees and can actually kill its host - hows that for a nice Christmas thought? I'm not a tree hugger, but those trees in our neighbor's yard could use a hug. I can almost hear them calling for help. :-)
The other day I told our student body the truth about mistletoe - cruel I know. After telling them about the little plant, I challenged them to not be "takers" like the mistletoe plant, rather be "givers" like Jesus was who came to give life and life more abundant. (John 10:10)
And then I told them, "The next time someone tries to coax you into kissing under the mistletoe, tell them, "Personally, I would prefer not to stand under a blood-sucking, low-life, vampire plant, but if you insist...ok."
Have a great Christmas - look for me somewhere far away from the mistletoe.

Sermon Thoughts

The passage is Galatians 3:23-29. I always say, "If I can see it, I can understand it". Here is a quick way to visually represent what I understood from the passage our pastor spoke from this morning. I can "see it" now - can't you?

My love

I just felt this urge to draw today - so I sketched the most beautiful thing in my world - my wife Sandee! She is gorgeous if I do say so myself. This was fun to do.

I gotta find a better way to scan my sketches. I am not happy with the scan job - too grainy. By the way, this sketch is quite small - only about 10 by 10 centimeters. Fits nicely into my moleskine watercolor notebook. I love the feel of the pencil on this paper.

Kipling

This morning our Pastor briefly mentioned Rudyard Kipling and his poem "The Elephant's Child". He had a photo of him up on the screen - for about two minutes. As quickly as I could I sketched Kipling and his big black moustache. I love that face.

I included a bit of his poem. The pastor mentioned this as a lead-in for addressing the issue of "Why we believe what we believe." We are in Galatians chapter 3 and studying law and grace.

Special Music

We were graced today by some special music in church this morning. A small ensemble of string players played a wonderful worship chorus during the service. I did a quick sketch of one of the violinists - Evan Fung. He did a great job - not sure that my sketch is that great, but it was fun to try.

Our only hope

Jesus my Savior.

First Advent 08

A quick sketch for today. This is a day of preparation for our hearts. Today we light the candle of hope.

Train Sketch on American Thanksgiving Day

I just arrived back to Germany from a quick trip to Canada this morning. I arrived in Zurich, Switzerland and had to take the train to Basel. My train trip took about an hour and 20 minutes, plenty of time to do a quick sketch of the guy across from me. I'm pretty sure he didn't know I was sketching him. It was a fine way to pass the time.

I was quite intrigued with the guy's e-book. I think it was one of those Sony ebooks. I would love to try one out some day.

Today's Sermon

Our Pastor is taking us through the book of Galatians. Today the topic was justification - the ruling that I am without sin. This is the picture that came to mind - the judge's gavel. The problem of course, is my response and how I live with this declaration, this grace. We tend to move back and forth between legalism and no law at all. (See gauge below.) The solution is living more in touch with Jesus every day - John 15:5.

A Doodle

This little doodle was done during my Board meetings last week. I sketched a bunch of little things during the two days of meetings, but I liked this one best. It reminds me of those stained-glass windows that you find in an older house. Or is it like a warm quilt?

This sketch is very peaceful to me - ordered, and tranquil. Funny that it was drawn during intense meetings.

Sunday Sketch

This is a sketch from today's sermon. I guess you had to be there - which this sketch is supposed to help with. My theory is this: if you can make a related sketch while listening to a sermon, a message, a class lecture, you are FAR more likely to remember what was said AND to apply the central point to your life.
Pastor David brought some props with him today. You can see them below. Click on the picture to understand the central message of his sermon.

I was sitting beside some high school students this morning (my wife is in Canada at the moment). They noticed me drawing and tried to peek over my shoulder to see what I was doing. I seriously think they benefit from the creation of a visual representation of the message. I think they started to listen closer to the speaker with me.
The students love to look through my sketchbook to see what I've done. It always surprises them.

Carmens

The Carmens were visiting in church today. They are missionaries to Cameroon where David is a pilot. We love these people - they are old friends and we support them. This was an extremely fast sketch. I did it while they stood and spoke. I think I captured little Timothy and Joel - they way they were standing - leaning into their parents.

Obviously, this was done in pencil. I wish I could draw people better - especially faces. I need to take a course one of these days.

Sunday Sketch

Today's message: "Too good to be true!" As Pastor David Harrop spoke from Galatians 1 on the topic of GRACE this morning, this is the picture that came to mind. I was reminded of the mountains of ads you get with your Sunday paper in the US that yell for your attention. Here's an ad that really tells the truth. I especially like the "fine print" with this ad. Check it out. You can click on my sketch for a larger version.

While we are at it... what about those literal mountains of paper ads? This doesn't happen here in Europe. Yes, we get paper ads in our mailbox, but nothing, NOTHING, like in the U.S. If we are serious about doing something to consume less - this would be a great place to start. Sorry for getting off track.

Duomo in Florence, Italy

We were in Florence the other day with the senior class on their class trip. When you are in Italy you can't help but feel like drawing. So that's what I did. This Duomo, (domed Cathedral) is quite beautiful. Michaelangelo designed this dome.

This sketch is done in pencil. I usually draw using a fine tipped pen. This time I used pencil thinking that I might do some watercolor later. I found that I enjoyed working with pencil. It's easy to add tone and make quick adjustments. I might do more.
This was done in my new Moleskine watercolor sketchbook. Nice paper.

Sunday Sketch

This sketch was done last Sunday, October 5 (oops, I wrote Sept on the sketch). This is a sketch of the worship service that the seniors lead during their class trip to Rome. The music was great, the speaker, one of the students, was also very good. Naturally, the view was really cool too. There were approximately 90 of us.

Sketches from Venice

We just got back from Italy with our senior class - 79 students. Here are a couple of quick sketches I did last night at a concert all of us attended. The concert featured Vivaldi's Four Seasons. It was amazing. The sketch below had to be fast so I was unable to include the other six members of the string ensemble called, "Interpreti Veneziani". This view was drawn from my seat on the front row to the extreme left of the stage. These guys are amazing, see the one minute video we took below for a sample.

This little sketch was also done during the concert. Interpreti Veneziana holds there concerts in a former church. There are several statues in various spots inside. This particular sculpture was interesting because it featured a vail over the woman's face. How is it possible to depict a vail in stone? Well, the artist did it quite nicely. Thanks Ginny for inspiring me to do some sketches. The paper you gave me was just what I needed.

Sermon Sketch

Another sermon sketch. David Harrop is speaking from Romans right now - I was especially struck with Romans 3 verses 23 and then 24. This is the picture that came to mind. I especially liked David's "It not about being good enough" phrase. Note my campaign buttons at the bottom.

During the worship time we sang the following song. I loved these lyrics...
"The Power of the Cross"
Words and Music by Keith Getty & Stuart Townend
Copyright © 2005 Thankyou Music

Oh, to see the dawn
Of the darkest day:
Christ on the road to Calvary.
Tried by sinful men,
Torn and beaten, then
Nailed to a cross of wood.

CHORUS:
This, the pow'r of the cross:
Christ became sin for us;
Took the blame, bore the wrath—
We stand forgiven at the cross.

Oh, to see the pain
Written on Your face,
Bearing the awesome weight of sin.
Ev'ry bitter thought,
Ev'ry evil deed
Crowning Your bloodstained brow.

Now the daylight flees;
Now the ground beneath
Quakes as its Maker bows His head.
Curtain torn in two,
Dead are raised to life;
"Finished!" the vict'ry cry.

Oh, to see my name
Written in the wounds,
For through Your suffering I am free.
Death is crushed to death;
Life is mine to live,
Won through Your selfless love.

FINAL CHORUS:
This, the pow'r of the cross:
Son of God—slain for us.
What a love! What a cost!
We stand forgiven at the cross.

Sermon Sketch

These are some interesting sermon notes (with apologies to Pastor David). This message was divided into two sections - the bad news and the good news. The bad news is the bottom half of the tree - notice the dead and dying leaves. The second point of the sermon was the good news that lead us into Communion. Notice the living healthy leaves on the top half of the tree.
I'm not sure how I got the tree concept into my head (family tree maybe?)...but there it is.

Sermon Sketch

I enjoyed Sunday's message by David Harrop on Gideon. David started with a good story about a French man lost in the mountains who was found weeks later. Another hiker came upon him and his first words to the hiker were, "I think I'm lost!" :-)