November 2019: Peggy Thibodeau
Peggy Thibodeau . . just asking God to fill my heart
I am passionate about the Bible because it truly changed my life. What an incredible and precious gift our Lord has given us in the living word!
However, I came to art later than most artists, in my late 30’s. After more than a decade of being an artist, I discovered Bible journaling. I began making art in my Bible. I learned various methods of getting a sketch on the page. Sometimes I sketch an idea myself, often after gathering ideas from the internet. I have also printed line drawings out to trace into my Bible. I’ve even traced directly from my phone! I’ve used pen, pencil, gelatos, colored pencils, gel pens, pastels and watercolors. I tend to favor methods that allow the text to shine through.
In the beginning, my goal was to make pretty art on the pages of my most beloved book. It was product oriented. I was interested in what I could produce, since that was my background. It has taken me quite awhile to learn to be process oriented. Nowadays, I value what I learn and what I hear from God as I am preparing to create. My work is now more personal and organic than it used to be. God helped me realize that my motivations for showing my work on social media weren’t entirely pure, so I don’t post as much.
Last Lent, I began scripture writing. I had so much fun with that discipline and I learned so much! It started off rough, and slowly evolved into a method of writing and sketching and coloring and using pictures and letters found in magazines. I enjoyed having no rules and just asking God to fill my heart and the page with the scriptures of the day. I had a ball!
It is also important to me to immerse myself in the Word in many ways. Proverbs 7:3 tells us to tie his commands to our fingers and write them on the tablet of our hearts. Proverbs 6:2 tells us to tie them around our neck. Deuteronomy 6:8 tells us to tie them as reminders on our hands and bind them on our foreheads and write them on the doorposts of our houses and on your gates. I have painted scripture on rocks and walls and driveways. I have put scripture above every light switch in my home, so that turning on the light now has a spiritual meaning. There really is no limit to this Bible journaling thing!
I have two goals as a Visual Faith artist. First, I want to put God first in it. This is harder than it may sound! (It means the art isn’t first.) Second, I want every person to know that an artist lives in them. Anyone can learn to make art. A book called The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron radically changed my life. I highly recommend it for the practical encouragement and tools it gives. More than anything else, I have asked the Holy Spirit, my teacher, for help all along the way. He is so generous! You can see my work on my Instagram page @peggythibodeau and on Pinterest. My folk art page is www.peggyart.com You are welcome to use any of my ideas in your Visual Faith journeys with no need to reference me.
