Thank YOU for being an angel

The Thanksgiving angel is dedicated to YOU, the angels/messengers that appear around me.  Thank YOU for making it feel worth the effort to write the blog and share the art that comes through me with others. It takes time and courage to share it freely on the internet and the messages from you on the blog and Loving Road facebook page inspire me to continue.  I am so very grateful for the encouragement and support from all of you that have liked the Loving Road facebook page and follow the blog.

This angel has the same general shape that has been in my thoughts for the past few years and is part of the “heartlight” series of angels, along with the angels made for All Souls’ Day and the Christmas holiday angels (coming soon) shared in other blog posts.

Her message was chosen before she was completed from a favorite Proverb: “The grateful heart sits at a continuous feast.” This seems like an appropriate sentiment for the Thanksgiving holiday and a reminder to be thankful everyday as well. Her coloring is meant to honor the native Americans associated with the holiday in the United States. Her dress is green with peas growing on it to represent growth and harvest. The angel wings are made from a real maple leaf from a splendid tree by our driveway. The Documented Life Project for week 44 (when I was working on this angel!) happened to be to “incorporate real or drawn leaves into your page” and I was in the process of doing both with this angel! The tree in the background was inspired by the vibrant fall colors here in the southern Appalachian mountains and a tree my son drew on a birthday card for my dad in which he included a detailed knot on the tree. The leaves are just done with paintbrush marks in various colors to give the impression of fall leaves without fussing over the details. When nearly finished, it seemed to want something more so the bird nest was added made from scrap pieces of thread and the blue bird was doodled and painted. The bird was inspired by the lovely blue birds that live on this property with us and to honor the memory of two that somehow made their way down the chimney to get trapped in the wood stove last summer. We do our best to live in harmony with the creatures and plants that we share our home with… even the pesky raccoons that steal the cat food and sometimes bother the chickens. We try to nurture an organic garden that gets raided by bugs and a groundhog. We’ve planted fruit and nut trees, which the deer love as well. We hope to be decent caretakers with the world around us, at least this small portion where we spend most of our time and efforts. We give thanks for all of this.

The cornucopia in the angel’s hands is full of fruit, nuts, and vegetables that my twin boys drew and colored for me to cut out and add when I asked if they would contribute to this art. Their birthday sometimes falls on Thanksgiving. They were born 3 months early and had a long, scary road their first year of life… living in the hospital for 3 months and then coming home still on oxygen support and with monitors and medicines. While Thanksgiving has always been a favorite holiday to me (one that focuses on giving thanks and counting the many blessings in our lives without wishlists), it has become even more meaningful since the rough beginning my children had, when we didn’t know if they would survive or have brain damage. We are extremely grateful to celebrate their 10th birthdays this year and to see them thriving. Having them contribute to the bounty for which thanks is given seemed appropriate. I also wanted them to know how much I value their contributions and creativity… enough to include it in art to be shared publicly.

To give thanks, I’m giving a 20% off discount code THANKYOU20 (valid through December 1st, 2014) for the Loving Rd etsy shop and doing another give-away. You don’t need to do anything to enter the give-away. I will have my two boys each select a winner from those of you that have “liked” the facebook page, commented on a post, or followed the blog (from those that I can find because facebook only shows me some of the people that like the Loving Road page, depending on privacy settings, and wordpress does not display everyone that follows the blog). If you’d like to share the post so that others that haven’t already visited the Loving Road facebook page or blog have a chance to do so before the drawing, that’s great. If you want to be sure you are entered in case your privacy settings don’t display your name to me, then please leave a comment with the facebook post about this or here on the blog. The boys will draw the 2 winners on November 30th and I will send each a high quality mini-print/postcard of the Thanksgiving heartlight angel pictured above. <3 Thank YOU again for sharing your time with me.  Oh, and I almost forgot, Society6 is offering free worldwide shipping through November 30th for the Loving Rd Society6 shop!

I love giving something away and have really enjoyed the few give-aways I’ve done this year from Loving Rd so I’ve decided to do at least one give-away each month next year. 🙂

May you have a blessed Thanksgiving! <3