Making Art Out of Pain

‘Is it possible for beautiful things to come from a place of hurt and disappointment?’

A beautiful life is not always one that goes on smoothly. A beautiful life is when the soul finds a way to make peace with the rough edges of existence. A beautiful life is interpreting the whole spectrum of human experiences, through the lens of faith.

Fuelled by revealed divine verses and pressing personal reminiscences, this book coupled with vivid metaphorical watercolour artworks offers ten crafts to carry on when in the throes; to challenge what we perceive events in life to represent, how we respond to the unexpected, unfamiliar, and unpleasant, and what we choose to become in the face of everything.

PREFACE

CHAPTER ONE : BRAVING PAIN

Advocating for our own pain

Enduring the battle

Empowering the healing

Growing beyond ourselves

Remembering the promise

Knowing that we are never alone

CHAPTER TWO : SKETCHING FAITH

As everything comes and goes

Let the Most High uplift us

With hardship

Comes ease

Call upon the Always-Near

The journey of making art out of pain

CHAPTER THREE : ASSEMBLING SELF-CARE

Unlearning feeling unloved

Improving with compassion

Moving past the past

On loving ourselves

Clarity of our own voice

CHAPTER FOUR : SCULPTING FORGIVENESS

Contemplating mortality

The light of forgiveness

The hurt others give does not define you

Releasing resentment

Repentance as a
way of life

CHAPTER FIVE : CAPTURING TRUST

The most precious currency

Testimony of trust

CHAPTER SIX : PAINTING GRATITUDE

Take a moment

Mercy, blessings, and indebtedness

Spectacles of gratitude

CHAPTER SEVEN : DESIGNING CONTENTMENT

First love first

Knowledge fuels love

To love is to communicate

True richness

CHAPTER EIGHT : APPRAISING SIMPLICITY

No shortcuts

The timeliness cure

Simplicity in fruition

CHAPTER NINE : WEAVING ACCEPTANCE

You will find the strength

You have got this

You make the place

You are born to build

CHAPTER TEN : EXHIBITING MEDITATION

Writing as resistance

Questions for carpentry

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ABOUT THE ARTIST