"The children from "The Valley" House painted, cut and arranged these mosaic Christmas cards. You can now order them! The cost per card is just 50 cents plus shipping, with discounts for large orders. Orders can be placed through email at info@cuvantulintrupat.com or by telephone at 0236 411 695."

Here are the Christmas cards I made with our kids. I had them paint large pieces of thin paper with different colors, Eric Carl style. Then we cut them into squares and glue the mosaics together until we had glue everywhere. The actual mosaics are about 2x3 feet. Usually we had 4-6 people around one at a time. Then came painting in black lines around the paper pieces. I am so happy to see these done and ready to sell. Here is a link to the Christmas Cards if you are interested in sending some. There are four models. Merry Christmas!

Straight line is a box

A period confining a tiger

In a pen too small

It is a dividing point

Like a fence in the ocean

Or a sword through a woman

In a magic show

The hard straight line

Is an attempt at power over life

To contain and quantify the sublime

The holy, the beautiful

The line may be drawn

But only tolerated in our

Sense of mystery is

Obliterated and we are content

With caricatures of life

The straight line is an idol

Blocking journey into God

I recently found this watercolor and poem in a stack on a shelf in my studio. It is made with slow blind contours of grape vines and blind water color splotches over it making the pen bleed all over. The bleeding pen irritated me but now it is a nice reminder of the experience of that day.

These insightful photos were taken by Robin Fowler now on staff in Romania. Usually photography is a wreck of unwanted colors, lines, and other distracting visual information. These are great examples of economy of information for the sake of an image that makes a whole and then draws you into the space it has created for you. Looking at most photos is like climbing into a dumpster, Robin has created sanctuaries for rest and reflection. Thanks Robin!

like daphne, i was really challenged by Joel's talk at the retreat. so i'm diving in and posting something that has been hatching in my mind & heart for a while.

i have been fascinated by the idea of the way redemption plays itself out in the material world. specifically in the way that things normally thrown away can be made into something beautiful. with this in mind i started collecting the bus tickets that are usually strewn all over the streets. indvidually they are nothing really, but when they are all together its a neat splash of color and a great reminder to me. many friends & community members have begun to collect for me so we'll see what else comes of it. the canvas i posted is one of the first few i have put together.