In the Artist’s Hand

 

My talented young friend, Chelsea Rose, has been coming over to our house about once a month for a time to paint or work on other creative projects, have fellowship and prayer together. She always comes with a fresh idea, inspiring me to try something new!

About two weeks ago, we scheduled a time for “art” on a Sunday afternoon. In preparation for her coming, I collected various paints, paper and brushes along with a few homegrown gourds from our previous garden in Springville, California.

While attending Master Gardener meetings through a UC Davis cooperative extension course many years ago, Al and I met an amazing gourd artist who grew her own gourds and then transformed them into unique baskets, vases and birdhouses. Her enthusiasm motivated me to want to try growing gourds too.

Al was willing to help out with the ambitious project. One spring, he built a framework in the garden, a “gourdhouse,” out of PVC pipe. We scattered a variety of seeds inside the framework, and with the hot summer sun, they soon sprouted and sent vines upward along the pipes. The structure was ideal for the young plants.

Before long, white blossoms appeared and then came the gourds. With two or three consecutive seasons of planting, we accumulated a lot of them, all different sizes and shapes. It was an enjoyable hobby, one which I eventually shared with Chelsea Rose. Our first project was making a mobile using some of the smaller gourds from the garden and pieces of driftwood.

A few years had elapsed since that time and I wasn’t feeling very inspired to paint gourds, but when she arrived, Chelsea Rose said, “Well, it’s fall. So, I think we should do gourds!”

 She had brought along directions for painting a rose from a friend of hers whose hobby was painting tiny scenes and flowers on dried tea bags! Dried tea bags? “Maybe we could try it,” she suggested.

 We decided to tackle the gourds first and then work on the special technique for painting roses--without the tea bags! The first part was easy. I selected a round, softball-sized gourd that had grown wild along our road in Springville. It had already been stained a dark brown, but needed something more.

Not feeling very creative, and ready for a nap, I dabbed yellow acrylic paint over the brown stain, which produced a burnished look. Chelsea Rose chose a medium-sized bottle gourd to decorate. The afternoon seemed to fly by, as we painted and visited.  

While the gourds were drying, we spent several minutes trying to master the unusual technique of loading a paint brush with two colors of acrylic paint, using one color (i.e. red) on the left side and another (i.e. yellow) on the right. By making two connected arcs to form a cylinder, the center of the flower was formed. Curvy strokes with the edge of the brush formed the petals.

Chelsea Rose instructed me to lay the bristles of the brush flat on the paper and hold the handle upright. She told me to relax and let the brush flow. It was harder than it looked though, with my red/ yellow roses turning out to look more like blobs than flowers!

Later, she shared a reflection on her experience in an email from Proverbs 16:9 …"In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord establishes his steps."  “This verse suggests that while we can make plans, God is the one who ultimately directs our steps. Just like when we paint with a flat brush, trying to capture the beauty of a rose blossom. We are supposed to be letting the brush flow and do all the work, but our natural tendency is to try to control every movement.”

“We have to remember that God is in control, we should let him paint for us. Acknowledging that everything is in his hands and on his time. Our lives would be way less complicated, if we gave up control.” (Chelsea Rose, 11-3-2025)

Surrendering, yielding to God’s control, letting His Spirit work in and through me… Thank you for the lesson, Chelsea Rose!

“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10 NIV

“…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.” Philippians 1:6 NIV