i painted in church

Today was the 3rd sunday where the focus has been on artists, in a series called "Imagine: Christians and the Arts" at Graffiti.
Every sunday, Taylor has spoken on a different topic, and a musician, dancer, or actors have given a performance which is connected to the sermon, because artists have a way of helping us to understand life, and life's hardships better.
So today was my turn, to help interpret the topic of "Dignity". [I'll put a link to the sermon once we have one.]
The specifics were about how God giives us a face, and we are created in his image.
I started painting right before the service began. This was my second attempt at this. On a canvas larger than I'd ever worked on. On stage, and I was to paint a portrait in about 45 -50 minutes.
I did all my prep work this week. I'd bought the canvas and had a wash on it. I had made a small version of it in colored pencils to help me work out the colors since the orginal picture was in black and white. I'd pre-mixed some colors. And I'd prayed a lot. But I was still a little nervous.
This painting was 3 feet x 3 feet. My last painting at church, off stage, with no special lighting on me was 18" x22". The biggest work I would usually do back in art school was 16"x20", and that would be over a couple weeks of working on it. This was done in acrylics. I used to paint mostly in watercolors and oils.
One friend said I was very brave. I said maybe a little brave with a large dose of insanity.
The neat thing was once I was painting, the nerves were gone, and I was super enjoying it. I was still aware of the time, and I did sing along with the congregation. but I was very happy. The biggest thing was that I had to listen for Taylor's ending point so as to be able to finish at the same time as him. I did.
People liked it, and were impressed. I pray that it spoke to people in a deeper way about his love, and that God was honored with my worship and service.
Of course, had this been a longer painting time, I would have added more to it, but once I stepped away from it, I liked it, even though I could see faults with it.

Every Day In May

I just found and committed to my next project.
It will only serve to enhance and stick to my already laid out plans for my art.
The project is called "Every Day In May" and was started by a fellow artist and blogger, french toast girl, whose work I love.
She started this last year, in May, and she decided to do it again. The intent is to do something creative every day in May. I wil be painting/drawing every day. Mostly I hope to work on and finish a project I've already begun, and complete at least one more painting. I will post my progress, and other everyday drawings. As she put it, some of the paintings/drawings may not be great, and some may be amazing. It's more of an exercise to keep on plugging on. I will post my work here, as well as in the "Every Day in May" flickr group.
Would you like to join me? If so, let me know. We can then make sure we're encouraging each other.
A couple months ago, I did a project called "30 faces" in which I drew/painted a face (almost) every day of the month. It was a great discipline, and it kept me on target with my art, gave me some nice work at the end of it, and it had people visiting my blog with more frequency. Hopefully this project will do the same, and I will get your visits and comments, and I will continue to grow and expand as an artist.