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

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Posted in Links & Resources, Photos | 12 Comments »

12 Responses to “God Loves Us When We Dance”

  1. eileen (the dream) Says:

    what a fantastic photo! and i love what you did with it. i did some dancing around today … but i’m up for more!

  2. claire Says:

    what a gorgeous photo!!! and yes, the quote is just perfect for it!!

  3. Creativity challenge | Anchors and Masts Says:

    [...] 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 [...]

  4. Tess Says:

    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.

  5. lucy Says:

    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!

  6. Christine Says:

    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.

  7. Suz Says:

    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?

  8. Christine Says:

    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.”

  9. claire Says:

    maybe you are, christine, in your soul…
    you certainly make words and images dance in your zine :o )

  10. Christine Says:

    Thanks Claire :-)

  11. Sue Says:

    Christine,

    This is beautiful!

  12. Simone's Butterfly Says:

    I love your theme.

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