Stop! Slow! Men at work

[caption id="attachment_1997" align="alignleft" width="224"] Commission
Mixed Media
8x8[/caption]

I'm so glad you stopped by! I was wondering if you had ever been just a little late to your destination and thought to yourself, "i'll cut through the neighborhoods and get there faster.  Only to find yourself zooming right up to the back of a long line of cars waiting and watching a single lane of oncoming traffic moving at maybe two miles an hour? If you hang your head out the window and squint your eyes, you can see there is a guy up ahead holding a stop sign and a walkie talkie obviously talking to the guy who is in charge of the other lane of traffic. Finally the other lane disappears and the sign then reads "Slow." Honestly, by this time I probably could have walked to my destination and arrived sooner.

This commission I recently finished was a

[caption id="attachment_1998" align="alignleft" width="224"] beginning layers[/caption]

little like the guy holding the stop sign. I adore mixed media projects for so many reasons. Each piece is unique and interesting. My pieces are created with layer upon layer upon layer revealing unexpected surprises every time you look at it. However, with layers comes the guy with the "stop" sign. There is a lot of time sitting and waiting for things to dry and mediums to set, and I admit it is very hard for me to wait sometimes. I get so excited about a piece and can hardly wait to add some element and I end up with what's commonly known as "mud!" It's so frustrating because I know it's going to be mud, but I forge ahead anyway hoping for super powers to avoid the inevitable. It's one of the reasons I have paper towels in my studio so

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I can wipe of as much "mud" as possible. The funny thing, I actually have to wait on the "mud" to dry so I can sand it back to where I started. Then I begin again and wait. Can you believe that? I almost always wait twice as long. You would think I would learn from my mistakes the first time. The good part is that after the wiping and sanding and waiting, I have a piece of art that makes my heart smile. It was worth every step of the process!

I don't know about you, but I make "mud" every day. I lose my patience or speak before I think...you get the idea. I am so thankful that God, my creator, doesn't toss me in the trash. Instead, He gently wipes away some of the

[caption id="attachment_2000" align="alignleft" width="224"] Always worth the wait![/caption]

crud, and pulls out the sand paper to get the big stuff. He patiently waits on me and never gives up on me. I love that He never grows weary of working on me. Philippians 1:6 "being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." I cut through the neighborhood the other day and there were no workers present. Instead there was a fabulous stretch of road that was smooth as butter. It was worth the wait.

Love love love Ruthie