Thought for the Day

It is impossible to know, in the moment, how a small act

of goodness will reverberate through time. The notion is

empowering and it is frightening—because it means that

we're all capable of changing the world, and responsible

for finding those opportunities to protect, feed, 

grow, and guide love.

~ Episcopal Bishop Michael Curry

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Quoted from "Being's 'God's Somebody'", Daily Meditations, Center for Action and Contemplation, October 29, 2021 (See Michael Curry with Sara Grace, Love Is the Way: Holding on to Hope in Troubling Times (Avery, 2020).) 

 

Most Rev. Michael Curry, Presiding Bishop and Primate, The Episcopal Church

Center for Action and Contemplation

New Artist Watch Feature at Escape Into Life

 

Jodie Kain, God Is My Judge, 2018

Pastel, 18" h x 18.5" w

© Jodie Kain 

Jodie Kain, Two Scotches In, 2017

Pastel, 15" h x 21" w

© Jodie Kain

PLEASE DO NOT COPY IMAGES

This month's new Artist Watch feature introduces the award-winning painter Jodie Kain to readers of the international online arts magazine Escape Into Life.

Jodie, a native New Yorker who lives and works in Boston, began her formal art studies at age 16, when she enrolled in an anatomy class at the Art Students League of New York; subsequently, she studied with photorealist Rob Neffson at Penn State University, at The Heatherley School of Fine Art in London, and at the Academy of Realist Art in Boston. She holds a bachelor's degree in fine art from Penn State. A figurative painter who also employs plein air techniques while studying natural subjects from life, Jodie works exclusively in pastels. She is a member of both The American Artists Professional League and American Women Artists.

For today's Artist Watch column, Jodie has generously provided a dozen images of work from 2021 - 2017; her Artist Statement, and a biographical profile. Links to her social media also are provided in the column.

Thought for the Day

Our core is original blessing, not original sin.

~ Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM

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Quoted from Richard Rohr, "A Hopeful Foundation", Center for Action and Contemplation, October 24, 2021

 

Fr. Richard Rohr, Franciscan Friar, Ecumenical Teacher, Founder of Center for Action and Contemplation (New Mexico)

Thought for the Day

Shame never has a loud clang.

The worst part is how silent it is.

~ Victoria Chang

________________________

Quoted from Introduction to "'Dear Memory' digs into the shame accompanying immigrant silence", Author Intervew at NPR, October 12, 2021; From Victoria Chang, Dear Memory: Letters on Writing, Silence, and Grief (Milkweed Editions, 2021)

Victoria Chang, Poet and Writer

Thought for the Day

Your heart is greater than your wounds.

~ Henri Nouwen

_______________________________

Quoted from Henri Nouwen Society Daily E-Meditations, "Live Your Wounds", October 9, 2021

 

Henri Nouwen

Henri Nouwen Society

Thought for the Day

[. . .] The practice of letting go and embracing simplicity is one way

we prepare ourselves for what is to come. One day we all will have

to let go of everything — even our own breath. It will be a day 

of utter simplicity — a day when the importance of stuff fades.

Learning to live simply prepares us for our last breath while

cultivating in us the freedom to truly live here and now. [. . .]

~ Adele Ahlberg Calhoun

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Quoted from Adele Ahlberg Calhoun, "Letting Go of Things" in "Weekly Summary", Center for Contemplative Action, September 25, 2021 (The quote is found in Calhoun's Spiritual Disciplines Handbook: Practices that Transform Us (InterVarsity Press, 2005), pages 75-76.)

Adele Ahlberg Calhoun, Pastor, Spiritual Director, Speaker, Retreat Leader, Certified Enneagram Trainer, Author

New Artist Watch Feature at Escape Into Life

 

Lauren Tilden, Trees in October, 2021

Oil on Panel

12" x 12"

 

© 2021 by Lauren Tilden

 

PLEASE DO NOT COPY IMAGE

 

Today's new Artist Watch column at the international online arts magazine Escape Into Life, showcases the poetic and masterly work of American painter Lauren Tilden.

 

A three-time recipient of grants from the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation, Lauren holds a master's degree in fine arts from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Her paintings, which she has shown in numerous exhibitions, especially in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have been published in The Artist's Magazine and other art-related periodicals. Currently a resident of West Virginia, she is represented by Haynes Galleries and F.A.N. Gallery.

The latest Artist Watch features images of nine of Lauren's paintings, her Artist Statement, and a brief biography.

Thought for the Day

The world is very beautiful, but human beings are quite mad.

~ David Hockney 

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Quoted from David Hockney, "Why abstraction in art has run its course", The Art Newspaper, September 30, 2021

 

David Hockney, British Painter, Draftsman, Printmaker, Stage Designer, Photographer

David Hockney Foundation

Thought for the Day

[. . .] because the source of all creativity is the Word himself,

the role of the Inspirer is inescapably relational. So I think all

spiritual and creative inspiration starts with more relational

virtues: humility, honesty, availability, and affection. [ . . .]

~ Paul J. Pastor

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Quoted from Michael Wright, "We must become poetry." (Interview with Paul J. Pastor), Still Life (Weekly Letter on Art and Spirit)

Paul J. Pastor, Poet, Editor, Author of Bower Lodge (Fernwood Press, December 2021), The Face of the Deep (David C. Cook, 2020), The Listening Day (Zeal Books, 2017), Vol. One, and The Listening Day (Zeal Books, 2017), Volume Two

Thought for the Day

 We are faithful / only to the imagination.

~ Denise Levertov

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Quoted from Denise Levertov, "Everything that Acts is Actual," at What Sparks Poetry | Poetry Daily, September 13, 2021. This poem can be found in Collected Earlier Poems 1940 - 1960 (New Directions).

 

Denise Levertov (1923 - 1997), Awarding-Winning American Poet