Using the Gifts You are Given

I don’t know about you but sometimes it is easy to get discouraged with our art (or whatever your gift is).  It is easy to look at what others are doing and think what we are doing is not the right thing or our art doesn’t measure up; or, even worse, have others tell us what we are doing isn’t good enough, or that we should be doing something else.

I feel that the thing we have always loved to do, the thing that brings us joy, is the gift God has given us.  As a child we can delight in our gifts and enjoy them with abandon.  As we get older we care sometimes too much about what others think and we become critical of ourselves and lose our joy.

I encourage you to let go of the critics (whether inner or outer) and start using the gifts you have been given.  Use your gifts (no matter how old you are when you discover them), enjoy them, and your skills will grow and develop.  Who knows where they will take you.

This message has been on my heart for a while, not only for myself but also to encourage others.  I was asked to do a project for Art Play Date with birds and art elements in it.  Without knowing it this message showed up in my project.

You see the bird that is sitting on the box of watercolors. That is us happily doing our thing.  The bird hanging off the brush is the critic telling us what he is doing is better, that it is the right thing.  For a moment we almost believe it, but then we look over and see the tag that reminds us to be ourselves and enjoy the gifts we are given.

I am encouraging you to be inspired, dream, create and fly with your gifts; as you do they will grow and you will become the artist you were always intended to be.

Blessings my Friends,

Jane

PS. Art Play Date is an 27 week online class.  Each week a talented artist will be teaching a new project.  If interested you can find out more by going to the Art Play Date website.

These are the projects: