A few weeks ago, my friend Airees shared a Facebook post announcing Ayala Museum’s call for artwork submission. Each artist may submit up to 10 4×6 sized artwork. The submissions will be displayed at the Ayala Museum on July 25, as part of the Inspire Everyday event. The visitors will then pick one artwork each for them to keep. I thought it was a great idea. I love the opportunity to share, and also to take home another artist’s work.

At first I thought I would create prints of some of my existing paintings, but later on decided to create some new stuff. Consistent with the goals I’ve set for myself in relation to my creative pursuits, I wanted my artwork to be a way for me to share God’s words and His promises. I wanted my artwork to be uplifting. After I’ve completed them, I prayed that these will be picked by people who need to hear the message that I’ve written on the artwork itself and/or the message I wrote at the back.

Here’s the first one. Can you see the words “keep calm”? I used a 200gsm watercolor paper as base here. I colored using a combination of my Windsor and Newton Watercolor and Caran D’ache water soluble crayons. I used a waterproof pen to draw and doodle. At the back, I typed my message that says:

Hello! Thanks for picking my card. Are you experiencing storms in your life right now? Stay calm. God is in control.

“But now the Lord who created you, O Israel, says: Don’t be afraid, for I have ransomed you; I have called you by name; you are mine. When you go through deep waters and great trouble, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown! When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up— the flames will not consume you.” Isaiah 43:1-2

My second submission is perhaps my favorite among the ten. It’s probably because of the happy colors. I used Copic Markers to add color, except for the background where I used Distress Ink and a stencil. I drew using a waterproof pen. Here, I got so carried away adding the “zentangle” patterns that I forgot to add the words of affirmation. Anyway, I was still able to add an uplifting message at the back.

Hello! Thanks for picking my card. May your life always be filled with joy. May you always find reasons to sing praises to God.

“Sing a new song to the Lord! Sing it everywhere around the world! Sing out his praises! Bless his name. Each day tell someone that he saves.” Psalm 96:1-2

The next one says “God bless our home”. I also used watercolor here, with some doodling. At the back, the message goes:

Hello! Thanks for picking my card. May your home be filled with the love of God. Blessings to you and your family!

“…But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15

This one took a bit more time to complete. I drew using a pencil. Then I distressed the page using distress ink and stencils. Can you see the background color with the shape of flowers? That’s the stencil I used for the background. After distressing, some of the pencil marks became less visible, so I had a hard time inking them. Lesson learned – use ink before distressing. I colored the flowers and leaves with Copic Markers. Can you see the words in one of the flowers? It says “you are beautiful”. At the back, the message goes:

Hello! Thanks for picking my card. I want you to know that you are beautiful. You are created in the image of God. God bless you!

“For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well.” Psalm 139:13-14

This art work was picked up by a friend of Airees’. I was so happy that I got to meet her. She even asked for a photo with me which our friend Airees took using her phone. The photo is posted on my Facebook wall.

This one doesn’t have words on the front of the card. I didn’t need to write words. I think the cross is already a powerful symbol. Anyway, I still used the back of the card to share God’s words.

Hello! Thanks for picking my card. Know that you are precious in God’s eyes. His son, Jesus Christ, died on the cross for you so you can live a good life.

“He personally carried the load of our sins in his own body when he died on the cross so that we can be finished with sin and live a good life from now on. For his wounds have healed ours!” 1 Peter 2:24

I saw a lady holding this card while we are lined up for the silk screen printing section. I wanted to approach her and thank her for picking my card but I got shy. Haha! So I just whispered a prayer that the message I wrote on the card is something she needed and is ready to hear. 

For the next set of cards, I mainly did some brush calligraphy on a painted background using an assortment of techniques.

For this card, I sprayed water reactive spray ink at the edge and let the pain drip down. Once it’s dry, I placed a chicken wire stencil that I sprayed with water on top of the card. The paint, although already dry, reacted with water and created a bleached effect. That’s the pattern you see on the background. The back has this message:

Hello! Thanks for picking my card. I want you to know that you are important and your life has meaning. Jesus said,

“You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.” John 15:16

Here, I sprayed a clock stencil with a permanent ink spray. I then used that to “stamp” the image onto the paper. Once it’s dry, the color is permanent. Then I sprayed it with a water reactive ink spray, and again placed a wet stencil on top to create a pattern on the yellow ink. The clock image was not affected by the water because it is permanent. Once dry, I wrote “Today is the Day” with a calligraphy brush pen. At the back, the message goes:

Hello! Thanks for picking my card. God has great plans for you today! Enjoy!

“This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118:24

For this card, I used a “ghosting technique” for the background. First, I sprayed the watercolor paper with two colors of water reactive ink spray.  Then I placed a stencil on top of it and sprayed it with water. The areas exposed to the water lightened creating the pattern. Piece of cake! I then used a brush pen to write the words. This is my favorite among the five cards with brush calligraphy. At the back, the message goes:

Hello! Thanks for picking my card. I want you to know that whoever you are, whatever you’ve done, God loves you.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” John 3:16

The next card used the same technique as the one above, except that I used three colors of spray ink, and two stencils so there is a bit more color and pattern here. I also added a border using waterproof ink.

Hello! Thanks for picking my card. I want you to know that you are beautiful. You are created in the image of God. God bless you!

“I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well.” Psalm 139:14

Finally, the last card used a combination of the techniques above. I sprayed with three colors, let the colors drip a bit, then used the ghosting technique that I also did in the cards above. I added a border of dashed lines. At the back, my message is about trusting God so you don’t have to worry.

Hello! Thanks for picking my card. I wish you a heart filled with peace and free of worry. God bless you!

“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything; tell God your needs, and don’t forget to thank him for his answers. If you do this, you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will keep your thoughts and your hearts quiet and at rest as you trust in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7

There you go. If you were in the Inspire Everyday event yesterday and picked one of my cards, I hope you were inspired by both the visuals and the words.

I will share photos of the artwork my husband and I picked yesterday in a separate post.

Thank you and God bless you!