One of my absolute favorite things is to sit on my patio and draw while listening to the rain. Sometimes, I don’t even draw. I just sit and watch as the rain falls down. I’ve always loved the rain and probably always will. While it rained last weekend, I sat with the patio door open and laid on my living room floor and drew. I had seen the above picture floating around on Facebook and knew I wanted to try to draw or paint it at some point. Yet, I didn’t want to rush into drawing this picture. There are so many parts to it. So I decided to start with the bluebonnets. 

This took me at least an hour and a half, if not two hours to complete. I actually took my time and this is one of the first drawings that I have not hated when I have first started out. The first thing I drew was the stem of the bluebonnet and figured out where I wanted the top of it to be. I actually saved the bluebonnet itself for last because of how much time I knew it was going to take. I looked up an image on google to get an idea of what I wanted the grass to look like and then started drawing. I took my time. It is amazing what happens when I actually slow down  in order to create something.

My mind is always going a hundred miles an hour and I forget to slow down. Sometimes its as if I think I always have to be that way, including with my art. Its because I have this idea in my head and I want to get it out before I forget it. Well that’s part of the reason. The other part is how faced pace everything is in my life. At my job, I move almost non-stop and have to make split second decisions all the time. When I get home, I try to clean or cook or take care of my husband and my dog and still move at a fast pace. Lately, God has shown me that I need to take time not only for myself but take the time to slow down. It is okay if a drawing takes me two hours to complete. In the two hours, I can focus on one thing at a time and give my mind and body the rest that it needs for the fast pace that is my life. 

As I worked on the grass, I decided that I wanted some different and taller grass to come up around the bluebonnet. I didn’t want these parts to be too tall but just big enough to be seen next to the main focus of the drawing. I originally thought that I might turn them into flowers but they ended up staying as grass. This was a different take on grass and a challenge for me as I had never drawn them before. Both types of grass probably took me thirty minutes to forty minutes to complete. As I drew in a repetitive motion, all me stress from the week started to go away. I was focusing on one thing and not worrying about anything else. My anxiety, which had been high and felt like a rollercoaster most days, was nearly or completely gone as I drew. It is when I am drawing that I find that peace. When I am able to use the talents that God gave me, I find the peace that only He can provide. Growing up, I would draw on and off but I never thought it would become an outlet for me like it has. Sometimes I am amazed that God would allow me to have a talent like this but I am always grateful when I can use it to bring glory to Him. 

What took me the longest was the bluebonnet itself, as I knew it would. When you look at a blue bonnet, you see it for the beauty that it has but when you study it, you actually see how much detail goes into it. There are parts of the bluebonnet that have a white center and parts that are smaller. I looked at an image of a bluebonnet while I drew, eventually I was able to work without looking a the image for the detail but still needed it for the overall shape. This was a challenge for me as there are many different angles that needed to be drawn to get the full effect. I tried to capture the 3D shape that the bluebonnet has. At first, it did not look like bluebonnet at all. I was starting to get frustrated but then I realized that was because I was having to look at everything in detail. I had to look at every little part of this flower in order to create it. Once I was finished, I was finally able to see the shape without feeling frustrated. Originally, I wanted to draw one or two more bluebonnets in the background and attempt to draw a field but seeing as the flower itself had taken a long time to complete, I decided to draw the fence behind it instead. 

After I took a break, I came back to the finished drawing and used watercolor pencils. I had never used them before and quickly found out that I did not draw this on the correct paper. I colored each piece in the order that I had drawn it and once I got done with each section, I took a paint brush, dipped it in water and smoothed out the color. I understand now how to use watercolors, something that I had never been able to figure out before. There is also a specific kind of paper you have to use, so the water does not crinkle or roll the paper. All in all I am happy with how this picture turned out. If nothing else, God used this drawing session to show me how to slow down and focus on one thing at a time. I am still working on that and probably always will. Slowing down is something He has been trying to teach me for a long time but I think I am finally getting better at it. my goal is to draw each element of the image I saw on Facebook individually before I try to tackle to big picture. 

I think that is what we do in life sometimes. We rush to see the big picture, when we should be focusing on the individual pictures. When we do that, we miss out on the small things. God is constantly working in our lives and He is the one who can see the big picture of our lives. He knows everything and will always provide for us, even when we do not see how. “And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus. ” Philippians 4:19 (NLT)

If nothing else, we need to slow down so that we can see the small things and the details that God has placed in our lives. It is when we slow down, for me at least, that I am finally able to find the peace that only He can provide. Proverbs 3:5-6 says “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” (NIV) He is in control of our lives, even when everything seems out of control. What I have found is my life is much more crazy and hectic when I try to control everything. I need to trust Him more. Trust in Him and He will lead you. Will you trust him? I pray that you will.