The MOST important video about Israel you will ever see....

www.thelandofisrael.com

I have been honored to have seen Jeremy Gimpel in person twice.  This is an amazing video.  I stand with Israel wherever I am and I hope you do, too.  Feel free to share this video, embed it in your websites, email it to your friends.  May you be blessed!

Art comes in all forms

One form that I have always envied was the piano. If I could just sit down and play anything that was in my head.....make up the music as the words went along. And while the words seem to come fairly easily to me - playing the piano never has. Oh, we had lessons as kids. Years of lessons. I was never very patient with practicing. I memorized ONE song....and I can still sit down and play that single song.

Yesterday, I came across a video song that I thought was pretty amazing. This morning, I received the very same song in a video from my friends in Neve Daniel. I think if I get something twice in 24 hours, I should share it. I will be visiting Neve Daniel on our trip to Israel in October and this young muscian, Yedida Freilich, has just written a song called "Only Israel". If you listen to the words, as well as the music, I think you will see how moving her message is.



WOW! To be able to play and sing like that - true gifts - and she is using them to share an amazing message. Perhaps this is the best form of art!

I'm one who does care about Jewish blood. I pray for the day that Israel will call upon the armies of G-d and regain all the land promised to her! Wherever I stand, I stand with Israel.

Atlas Shrugs

Well, what does that mean??? Atlas equals "the world". Is it shrugging it's shoulders at Israel?

Or remember in school, there was this photo of atlas who had the world sitting on his shoulder? Did "he" shrug and the world shook?

Or has everyone in the world turned into an ostrich, stuck their head in the ground, and are willing to ignore what is going on beyond their current street address???

How much of the world do you know? Do you bother to read world news? Do you actually BELIEVE what they report on CNN and the evening world news? WHY????

Do you know what jihad means? What is happening to freedom of speech in other parts of this world?

Jihad is a religious duty of Muslims to invoke war against non-Muslims. It is the conquest of non-Muslim populations, forcing them to submit to Muslim rule.

OK, let me rephrase that one for you. Muslims believe that it is their job to force you to submit to Muslim rule if you are non-muslim. YIKES!!!

As much as I love Israel, there are millions who hate it. There are millions who want jihad against it and against Christians, against Jews, against anyone who is not muslim. WHERE are the world headlines about that little fact?????

What is your source of world news? Most newspapers simply tell us what they want us to "know". Here are some links you might want to read/subscribe to if you are really interested in what is going on in the world today.

Atlas Shrugs is actually a highly informative blog. If you don't read anything else, read this blog every single day!!! Pamela Geller. (I LOVE this gal!!!) She minces no words, gets right to the point, has a great sense of humor yet gets angry at just the right moment. There appear to be many who are trying to silence her, but I will do what I can to support her and encourage others to subscribe to her blog in order to learn the TRUTH about what is happening in this world.

And Pamela, if you run for senate...I promise, I will nominate myself in Colorado!!!

World Net Daily Much more informative than anything you will ever find on your local news or CNN! No more parental rights? Wow! Am I glad I'm the age I am! Yeah, there are a lot of ads and commercials....just read the content, not the ads.

The Cotopaxian Press. Be sure to read the subtitles (sometimes in a .2 font!) if you like to chuckle! But seriously, read the links that are provided - you will learn.

Israel Today Israel news

Israel National News Their site is down today and that always concerns me. Is someone attacking freedom of speech?

Jerusalem Post

If the world as we know it dissolves around us, then surely our world of art, our freedom of expression and freedom of creativity will end as we know it as well.

Wherever I stand, I stand with Isreal. And I have stood on this holy ground. I have walked by the Sea of Galilee, by the River Dan, on the Mount of Olives, and in the streets of Jerusalem. I have seen His handprint on the City of Old. And I knew every second that I was there just how holy it was, it is, and it will be.

I saw where "heaven on earth" will be. I truly long for the day that I can return.

Art comes in all forms. In words that are written, in poetry, in songs that are sung, in photography. Art is all around us, we just need to open our eyes to see it.

Art comes in freedom of expression.

Art is how I looked thru the lense of my camera. Art is how Jehovah God painted the landscapes that I photographed

Barbra Streisand sang "Holy Ground". The song, set to the photos I took of His Land, a Land Born in a Day, a land that is truly Holy Ground....




If you'd like the mp4 file so you can play this on a full screen, just email me!

To quote Pam's blog header....the Jew may be the canary in the coal mine, but you my friends will be next. Take your head out of the sand and fight the Great Fight. Become a citizen Jounalist, a citizen soldier.

The promise

I have been there. I have walked where Jesus walked. I know without a shadow of a doubt that this land was promised to the Jews.

"And the Lord said unto Abram ... Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever" (Gen. 13:14-15).

When I stood on Masada, I knew just how far the eyes could see and I knew how grand the promise was that was made.

"I will give to thee (Abraham) and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession" (Gen. 17:8).

Everlasting. Forever. Never ending. We cannot take away what God promised. It is not ours to take. It is not ours to negotiate. It belongs to the Jews.

"Unto thee (Isaac) and unto thy seed will I give all these countries" (Gen. 26:3). "The land whereon thou (Jacob) liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed" (Gen. 28:13). "By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise" (Heb. 11:8).

When I sat by the Sea of Galilee, when I walked in Caperneaum, when I lifted my eyes up to the hill of Jerusalem and saw the Holy City, I saw what we mean when we pray “thy kingdom come….on earth as it is in heaven”. I saw where the kingdom will one day be. I saw heaven on earth.

The music to the slide show is by Terry Hendricks. The photos were taken while I was there.

Altering 101!

My friend, Rose, was here from Wales. Now Rose is an amazing shopper, but what's even more amazing is the amount of stuff she can fit into her bags and still be under the weight limits! She had been here for a couple of weeks and her bags were at the max when she saw this dressform at Hobby Lobby:



She really wanted it, but there was no way to get it back to Wales!!! Needless to say, when I saw it on the 60% off rack this week - I got it! Just to tease Rose! OK, I didn't really like it, but I had an idea. First, I painted a layer of decoupage on it to seal the jute it is made of. Then sprayed a layer of primer, and finally a layer of white gloss paint - all Krylon paint. And now it looks like wicker - but it's not!



Next, I cut ribbons in 1 1/2 yard lengths and started threading them through the waist. Yes - it's going to be my new ribbon storage system! Dare I do one in each color? LOL! OK - I'll just do one and keep my blue, turquoise, silver and white ribbons on it!



Not bad like this, but am I done yet? That's the whole thing about altering something. This is what I originally envisioned in my head. But when I got here....it just lacks something. So the next step is to just start looking around the house to see what you can find!



I saw this turquoise and gold scarf that I picked up on our trip to Israel. I don't wear it. But I love it! And I thought "now, wouldn't that make a perfect bodice?" and started wrapping it around the top of the dess form. Just absolutely perfect!!!




When it comes to altering things, you will just have to have a cut-off point. I found these gold rhinestone chains and earrings and they just added the final touches!



And then I place it next to my little Judaica corner. Two of mom's paintings, a peddler doll I made, an American girl doll dressed for Hanukkah, a menora, and my journal from Israel. It's just perfect!



I seriously doubt I will use any of the ribbons from her skirt - but they are there if I need them in a pinch! In the meantime, I will just enjoy this and every time I look at it, I will think of Rose. I really should thank her for not buying it when she was here because now I have a wonderful addition to my "storage" ideas!

Global Vision

As an artist, I often get fogged in. I tend to go to my studio and tune out the world. It's just me sitting there happily playing and making fun little things. Hmmm...must be the right side of my brain taking over....blocking out the world outside my own little world?

Then there's the MBA in me that forces me to come up for air and look beyond my studio, my home, my city, my state, my country...into the world and remember that it is a global vision that makes us better human beings.

And as a rather privately religious person, I do like to know what is going on in Israel. So I have subscribed to a blog that I read every day, One Jerusalem.

I watch Tuesday Night Live in Jerusalem Ari & Jeremy...2 young men from America who moved to Israel and who are serving in the Israeli army today. Amazing young men. There is no where they would rather be in the entire world than in Israel serving in their army. Their weekly TV show is incredible.

Quoting them here: "If Israel put down their guns for one second....there would be no more Israel." "Do you want to watch Jewish history unfold from the TV in your living room? Or do you want to take part of it from the front lines?"

And I get my daily news from Israel Today. Their headlines the other day was "Israelis on alert as Hizballah declares war". CNN didn't even bother to mention it. Not even on their world news page.

One of my favorite map websites is called "Maps Don't Lie". I think if you read just this one page, you will have a new understanding of what I talk about when I say "global vision".

If you want some different inputs on global vision, check out some of the links provided by the Cotopaxian Press I particularly enjoyed the link to "Forget oil, the new global crisis is food". When we were in Israel, we saw how they are using greenhouses to grow food in the desert. We learned that Israel currently exports 1/3 of Europes produce. Will this be how Israel one day rules the world? We will turn to them for our food?

I grew up on my Great Great Grandfather's farm of 160 acres. There were the 7 of us and Grandma living on this land. 8 people. That was 20 acres per person. If all of the living descendants of those 8 people lived on this land today, they would total 41 and each person would have 3.9 acres. If we still raised all our own meat, dairy and produce, this would give each of us very little land to do so. Where is the food going to come from? Who is thinking this through? Not anyone in the US. Thank goodness, the Israeli's are!

Does Israel have more hidden treasures than we know about? Wealth in the bottom of the Dead Sea (we saw huge mines in the middle of the sea when we were there).

I just hate preachers who yell and scream from the pulpit, threatening the end of the world (ok, in my Baptist past the world should have ended every day for the past 50 years!). I truly hate pastors who point their finger while preaching and tell the audience to give them all their money (is that why so many of us grew up horribly poor?). I do not believe there is a church building on the face of this earth worth giving a dime to (another blog, another day). But I will send every spare penny to Israel to help them stay a nation.

Global Vision. How far past your studio do you see on a clear day?

What do you see?

When we were in Israel, our tour guide told us that the city of Jerusalem is shaped like the Hebrew letter “Shin”. The Valley of Ben Hinnom, Tyropoeon Valley and Kidron Valley form the 3 arms of this symbol which can represent “Shaddai,” a name of God. Thus, the name of God has been literally stamped on the city. Amazing when I first saw this flower, I thought of a “Shin”. His presence is in all that I see.



I see the shin in flourishes and stamps, in everyday designs. I most often see it in flames. Is it my creative eye? Do I alter everything I see? Or do I just look at things differently?

All through college and graduate school, I had a continuum of papers on the subject of selective perception. Why do we see, do, say, feel the things we do? It's based on the inputs that we have had in our life....we choose from those the "definitions" that define what we see. Our perceptions are selective in that they are based on "what goes in is what comes out". Example: if the world tells you that you are an artist, then you will believe that you are an artist.

Is the glass half full or half empty?

What do you see when you look at a flower? I choose to see Him as The Artist.

Once again, from my "6 Degrees" blog, may you never cease to realize that Jehovah's imagination can be the inspiration for who you are and for what you do!

Giving back

On my 40th birthday, someone gave me a card that had the "when I am old I will wear purple and red" saying on it. Something was wrong with that...something just didn't fit - for me. Several years later, I wrote my version of it and put it on a card to mom because it was really me saying the things I thought she was thinking at that time.

"When I am old, I will wear green and blue to match my bruises. I will laugh loud and long, and I will have drama in my life. When I have time, I will sit in my garden and paint my flowers. My friends will come for coffee and I will make them biscotti. I will take long, slow trips and wander through art galleries and take pictures of old doors, old mailboxes and old houses. When I fall down and get bruised, my children will come and take care of me and then they will tell me that I have to go live with them. But I shall say no and live alone and sit with my cat in the shade and laugh at my grandchildren and not be afraid. I will play with the child that's still inside of me. My bones will shrink and I will get short and my hips will get wide and I will buy a pound of chocolate and hide it on the shelf. I will read my Bible and tell the angels they were wrong when they take my children before they take me. I will keep my bags packed in case you want to go somewhere and start my car every day just to make sure it still runs. When I am old I will wear green and blue to match my bruises, I know they will be doozies!!!"

I always wanted to have a rubber stamp of that saying. So a year ago, I was working with Linda Hanson at After Midnight Stamps and things just evolved to where she and I decided to produce a line of stamps for Lucy McGoo. My sister, Colleen, did most of the preliminary sketches of Lucy...she is just so talented!

Lucy as art:


This sheet is dedicated to my sister's granddaughter, Anna Lee. Anna was born with only two chambers in her heart. At the age of 2, she has already had 10 heart surgeries. As soon as she weighs 30 pounds, she will undergo a heart transplant at Stanford Hospital in California

10% of the price of this sheet of stamps will go directly to the Anna Lee “Little Lucy” Heart Fund at Stamford. Your purchase will not only bring you joy in the years to come, it will help keep Anna (and other children needing heart transplants) alive.

Anna needs a new heart. You need new stamps! Together…we can spend our money to make everyone happy!!!

Lucy as an angel:


This set of stamps is dedicated to Israel. One million five hundred thousand twinkling lights is what you will see when you enter the Children's Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem. 1.5 million tiny lives that were never given a chance a generation before most of our lives began. In honor of each of these children, 10% of the retail price of this sheet of stamps will be sent to Israel. Lucy wants to be an angel to all children, young and old! May you find your angels everywhere you look!!!

Lucy Dances:


Lucy can’t begin to fathom life without her hair!
But all around her, more and more of her friends and their friends are getting cancer, undergoing chemotherapy, and losing their hair. Joyce has survived 11 years now. Nola has survied 5 years! Janis starts chemotherapy in 2 weeks.

10% of the price of this sheet of stamps will go directly to the Susan G. Koman Cancer Fund in the hopes that one day, none of Lucy’s friends will be lockless. Together, let’s keep Lucy in lots of locks!!!

To date, over $600.00 has been sent to these charities. OK....I guess I have to confess that just a bit more than 10% is being given away! I am so blessed by my art that most of what I receive is simply given back through these charities in the hopes that someone else will be able to play just a little bit more.

If you would like to purchase any of Lucy's stamps, just click here.

We are working hard to bring you more stamps in the near future!

6 Degrees

It is said that we all know someone who knows someone who knows someone...and by the 6th degree...it comes back to knowing the first person.

Today, my sister met a young man from Israel, Ran Damari. I've not met him, but I have met his music and I think he is amazing. You can hear it on his myspace site, be sure to listen to the 4th song "tal song". Wow! What talent!!!

It brought back memories of my trip to Israel with 2 of my sisters in 2005. When I visited the children's holocaust memorial, I was inspired to write this poem:

Longing for Israel
(the children’s memorial in Jerusalem)
©Jen Lowe 2006

This is where my heart is
Where my soul lives today
A place I never knew before
Just listen as I pray

A million shining stars
In the firmament around me
A million flickering lights
Dancing everywhere I see

Infinitely dark and somber
A shofar blows a tune
A child’s name rings out
My tears come too soon

All the Jewish children
Who died for no just reason
I bow my head in shame
For it cannot be undone

A generation before me
Took a million lives and more
But I still have to question
What was it all for?

Why do you hate the Jews
My heart seems to scream
They did not kill your Saviour
It was the Romans great scheme

Israel is where my heart is
And I long to return
A place I never knew before
I have so much to learn.

and to write the words below to go with one of mom's paintings:



A few months later, I wrote this song of praise as I was once again, looking at the photos of the Sea of Galilee.

Jehovah Y’shua Messiah
I worship you today
I am Your humble servant
In every possible way

Jehovah Y’shua Messiah
My heart sings out to You
Feed me with Your Holy Word
I hunger for more, it’s true

Jehovah Y’shua Messiah
You are my only light
The Menorah is but a symbol
Of my earthly plight

Jehovah Y’shua Messiah
Star of David as my shield
One day soon the truth
Will surely be revealed

Jehovah Y’shua Messiah
Bring Your Kingdom to earth, I pray
Bless Israel and all of Her people
Let their hearts be softened today

Jehovah Y’shua Messiah
Hear my song of praise to You
Thank you for letting me believe
Each thing the way that I do.

My dream is to one day live by the side of the Sea of Galilee.

This trip also inspired new art that will be published in an upcoming book by F&W Pubs called "Flip, Spin and Play"...to be released shortly. And continues to inspire the jewelry that I create:


So there..I have just discussed 6 things and am hoping that you will share with someone who will share with someone who will share.....until it comes back around to me!

That's 6 degrees of art!