God Loves Us When We Dance
September 7, 2007 · by Christine
My friend Rachelle over at Magpie Girl will be issuing a creative challenge and invitation twice a month to experiment with some sort of simple art process to get the creative juices going. She posted her first one today–altering a photo. Go here to read more about it and here to see the images already contributed.
I have been praying a lot with this photo of my paternal grandmother (who was once a dancer) and decided to play with it in Photoshop Elements a bit. I added a purple hue, some diffuse glow, and an antique border. Then I wrote in a Rumi quote I found over at Carla’s blog (go over and read some of her lovely posts on the sacred in her everyday life) that seemed to fit the image perfectly.

May your weekend be filled with dancing!
-Christine Valters Paintner @ Abbey of the Arts
Posted in Photos, Links & Resources |








September 7th, 2007 at 6:47 pm
what a fantastic photo! and i love what you did with it. i did some dancing around today … but i’m up for more!
September 8th, 2007 at 12:16 am
what a gorgeous photo!!! and yes, the quote is just perfect for it!!
September 8th, 2007 at 6:51 am
[…] first of all, go check out Christine’s beautiful photograph with Rumi’s words at the Abbey. Then take a look at the Flickr Creativity Challenge […]
September 8th, 2007 at 6:52 am
I love it too - you know how much I love Rumi. And how wonderful to have a dancing grandmother.
I’ve taken up the challenge and have just posted my effort on my site and have joined the Flickr group. Thanks for pointing it out.
September 8th, 2007 at 7:44 am
christine—your image is beautiful and it brought tears to my eyes which speaks to me of deeply touching my soul. the longing to dance is definitely there!
September 8th, 2007 at 9:20 am
Thank you all, I am really trying to explore what it means to have this kind of energy as a part of my ancestry, especially since she gave up dancing to have a family. I feel like there are some deep-rooted longings yearning to be fulfilled.
September 8th, 2007 at 10:26 am
Lovely, Christine. What a heritage!
It’s wonderful that you can now make it into a piece of art with your thoughts and feelings superimposed. I, too, love Rumi.
Do you dance?
September 8th, 2007 at 1:58 pm
Thanks Suz, I had fun making this. I enjoy dancing, especially the way Betsey (my co-teacher for the Awakening program) leads it and have thought about trying NIA classes this fall, but I am definitely not “a dancer.”
September 9th, 2007 at 12:19 am
maybe you are, christine, in your soul…
you certainly make words and images dance in your zine :o)
September 9th, 2007 at 8:50 pm
Thanks Claire
September 15th, 2007 at 6:55 pm
Christine,
This is beautiful!
November 19th, 2007 at 8:11 am
I love your theme.