A Special Visit: Blog Writer Amy Heywood

 Playing Sublimely

    Painting in the studio, August 21, 2013.  Photo courtesy of Amy Heywood, Playing Sublimely for the King

     Now that my boys are back to school I have been busy at work painting.  Nose to the grindstone.  I have five commissions right now, as well as a new gallery...plus an empty studio, since my summers are spent with my kids.  I am in need of some new work!  I have been working like mad to get things done.  My current project has been a fun one:  a large abstract, 4 feet by 5 feet, a stage of it shown above.  Initially it "fell off of my brush,"  as my mother likes to say.  But finishing it has been a struggle.  I am glad that there are fun things that happen in the studio almost weekly.  Being open to the public assures that!

     Last week I had an unexpected surprise. Blogger Amy Heywood, who writes the gorgeous and inspiring blog called "Playing Sublimely for the King" paid me a visit.  Talk about fun!  We did not have nearly enough time and I was, sadly, distracted with my large commission.  I still have lots of questions for her, especially about her faith journey--I always find it exciting to hear how the Lord got a hold of people's hearts :).  She is a sister in Christ and is using her gifts for His glory--and doing it well.

     Instead of my writing any more about our visit, I'll let you take a look yourself at what she has written.  Needless to say, I was blessed by her visit.  Here is a link to her blog:   http://www.playingsublimely.com/2013/08/asheville-its-kinda-the-place-to-be/http://www.playingsublimely.com/2013/08/asheville-its-kinda-the-place-to-be/

    And here is a photo of Amy and her family.  Stunning, aren't they? 

 

     As I mentioned before, Amy's blog is called "Playing Sublimely for the King."  This title shows that she understands the absolute thrill of being a part of God's divine plan...the joy and gift it is to be His vessel.   She explains it in the following paragraph taken from the about page on her blog:

 Antonio Stradivari was a seventeenth-century violin maker. The name Stradivari, in it’s Latin form, can be translated as excellence. In Max Lucado’s book, The Applause of Heaven, he explains that Antonio believed that to make a violin any less than his best would be to cheat God, who could not make Antonio Stradivari violins without Antonio. Though God is all powerful and needs nothing from anyone, out of His grace, He has allowed us to be a part of His story. He has gifted me with certain things that only I can do, and gifted you with unique things that only you can do.  He says, “In the great orchestra of life, you have an instrument and a song, and you owe it to God to play them both sublimely”.

Don't you just love that?