May You Have Eyes To See 

Ipad Painting © 2015 Suzanne Davis Harden All Rights Reserved.

 

 

MAY YOU HAVE EYES TO SEE

© 2015 S.D. Harden All Rights Reserved. 

 

Did you ever stop to think

That somehow you might be

The answer to another's prayer

The one who'll meet their need?

 

Never think that you are one

Whom God would never use;

That you have nothing much to give,

That you He'd never choose.

 

God doesn't need great talent,

Knowledge, or great skill,

He only seeks an eager heart

That wants to do His will.

 

You are someone's blessing,

A gift that someone needs,

And no one else will do but you;

May you have eyes to see.

 

May you have eyes to see

That you are special and beloved

To the One who gave you life,

The Holy God above.

 

Illustration Notes:

I painted the above painting with my Ipad and stylus using the Paper 53 app and Art Studio app and my stylus. The model was the Manager of a Gourmet Chocolates Shop where people are anything but unhappy because there are too many tasty treats!

The woman's head was down and though she was not weeping (or looking sad) I added a tear and a sad expression to my figure in the illustration and a number of other embellishments, like the birds in the background and the designs on her clothing.

Many artists use what is called "artistic license" in drawing and painting their pictures from reality. Their goal is to be inspired by what they see and to add elements from their own imagination to create an entirely new reality in whatever medium they might be working in to express what is on their heart.

Art can serve many functions. Some artists want their work to look just like a photograph, so they aim for an ultra realistic look. While others create entirely from their imagination. Whatever the approach, an artist’s work should bring them joy.

I often use art as a distraction from my chronic pain and the process of creation ultimately results in a visual poem that reflects my emotional mood. 

The beautiful woman in the candy shop was likely quite happy in her work as the shop manager of Fancy Gourmet Chocolates. But when I painted her I had a migraine and needed to distract myself from the pain. Fortunately, it wasn’t the fiercest kind of migraine that sent me to my bed for the rest of the day. 

Mark and I were thousands of miles from home visiting our son and his family and I was unable to do many things with them because of my chronic headaches. This depressed me severely. I was not able to go to the candy shop with them. They texted me photos of their outing together, laughing and eating all the fancy chocolates, and talking and joking with the lovely manager. I was so sad and asked the Lord, “Why couldn’t I have been that lady there having fun with my family?” 

But with the migraine I could not be around bright lights, loud music, the odor of the candy, or a lot of people. All of these “triggers” would have flared the migraine into a full blown case that would have sent me to bed for three precious days of our vacation, writhing with excruciating pain where I would have had to be totally isolated from everyone. 

If I kept quiet and did my art or music to distract myself from the pain now, I would be able to visit with them when they returned home. I would at least have some quality time with everyone even if I did not get to go eat gourmet chocolates which also would have flared up the migraine.

As I painted the portrait of the manager, she became me, because I so wished I had been her in that candy shop talking and joking and eating the fancy chocolates with my family that night.

 I painted all the birds on her clothes and all around her to symbolize my fierce migraine attackers. And then I painted the tear in her eye which was really my eye. For she was me. And I was her. 

Why couldn’t I be her, Lord Jesus I prayed! Why couldn’t I be healthy and strong and with my family, eating fancy chocolates and laughing together with them!  They live so far away and this is such a rare opportunity to visit them. And now I’m beset with migraines and can go hardly anywhere with them! :(

And then the Lord gave me the prayer poem, “May You Have Eyes To See.” “ 

Did you ever stop to think, That somehow you might be, The answer to another's prayer, The one who'll meet their need?

The Lord spoke to my heart and said, “Did I stop to think that my son had been praying for me to come visit him, and was so thankful that finally I was able to come be with them. As the only mama he had I was irreplaceable in his life and he needed me in a way I could not possibly comprehend.

Even if I was just there to listen to him, I fulfilled a special purpose that only a mama could. No one could ever take my place in my children’s lives. He had prayed a long time for me to be able to come visit him and here I was, so be thankful! Cheer up! Don’t be sad for what I could not do, be thankful for what things I could do.

Never think that you are one Whom God would never use; That you have nothing much to give, That you He'd never choose.

The Lord said to me that just because I could not do as many activities with my son and his wife as my husband could, to not be sad. To not always wish I was someone different. God could still use me even with my challenges. My family still loved me and needed me. They loved me for who I was and not for what I could or could not do.

God doesn't need great talent, Knowledge, or great skill, He only seeks an eager heart That wants to do His will.

The Lord said I didn’t need to be like everyone else to be loved or wanted by my family. That was silly. They loved me despite my auto immune illness and all the migraines that prevented me from doing so many things with them. They cherished the time I was able to spend with them. They were so happy that I made the effort to get on the plane and fly 3000 miles to come and be with them despite my health challenges. They knew it was very difficult. But look how happy it had made my son and daughter in law! Be at peace!

You are someone's blessing, A gift that someone needs, And no one else will do but you; May you have eyes to see.

“See now that you only need to love and be who I made you,” the Lord said. “May you have eyes to see this.”

May you have eyes to see, that you are special and beloved, To the One who gave you life, the holy God above...”  

He led me to 2 Corinthians 1:

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Father who is full of mercy, the God of all comfort. 4 He comforts us every time we have trouble so that when others have trouble, we can comfort them with the same comfort God gives us.5 We share in the many sufferings of Christ. In the same way, much comfort comes to us through Christ.“ 2 Corinthians 1:3-5

He said to thank Him for what I could do and not to dwell on what I could not do. 

Be thankful that I could visit my son and daughter in law in their home where it was quiet and where there were no distractions. Be thankful that we could go to the beach and visit when my migraines cleared up. Be thankful I could see enough to paint though I had this migraine. Be thankful I could sing to Him. Yes, go over all the things I had to be thankful for and not to focus on the negative things. For what God had not given me was not anything that I truly needed. And when I thought about all of these things and started to be thankful for who He made me to be and stopped wanting to be someone else, I started to be happy again. The Lord dried my tears. He helped me to truly see again. 

"May You Have Eyes To See" Illustration & Poem © 2015 Suzanne Davis Harden All Rights Reserved. Illustration Notes © 2015, © 2020 Suzanne's Sketchbook All Rights Reserved. May Christ Be Honored.

PAINTING WITH AN IPAD 

 

Detail Jesus Painting (Ipad Painting) © 2015 SD Harden All Rights Reserved.

 

 

I love traditional drawing and painting with oils, acrylics, etc, but lately I have come to enjoy the immediacy and portability of being able to create art with my Ipad. I can create the same quality of art as I once did tethered to my studio, anywhere, anytime with my Ipad and my favorite stylus. 

This stylus is a very special one that my husband Mark ordered for me last year. On one end it has a traditional stylus tip, while the other end looks just like a real paintbrush. And it really works like a paintbrush in many of my art apps on my Ipad! 


The above image is a detail of a painting I made of Jesus while we were on a trip 3000 miles away from home. I had no access to my paints or studio. I had only brought with me my Ipad and stylus.

The picture started out as a sketch in an app called Paper 53 which uses a special pencil and bluetooth within the application to enable the artist to create amazing ranges of values. 


Here is the original sketch in the Paper 53 App Illustration of Jesus..

 Original Jesus Ipad Sketch © 2015 SDH


A whole range of colors are available in the Paper 53 app but I prefer working there in one color and make it just a starting point for my paintings. 

I love the app for the way it allows artists to blend values so naturally, just as if you were using a regular pencil or charcoal or pastel. 

Once I have gotten the sketch to a certain point I will take a screen shot and save it.

I need to point out that it is very important to keep saving your work if you work on any mobile device. 

You will end up so sad if you have created a beautiful masterpiece and your app suddenly decides to crash.

I have lost many hours and so much hard work due to sudden app crashes. 



After saving the original sketch I opened it another app called Art Studio. I love this particular app because it is like a mini Photoshop on your Ipad! 

Here is where I painted my Jesus image into a more finished portrait.

 

Jesus Ipad Portrait © 2015 S.D. Harden All Rights Reserved. 

After I finished the portrait I imported it into another app called Pic Collage.

I made a collage out of my portrait with this fun little

app. And after I finished creating the collage

I saved the file and imported it back into 

the Art Studio app where I applied text to it.

To get the colors the way I wanted them I used color filters until I got just the right effect.

My painting was designed to be a scripture picture using the bible verses from John 3:16-17: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth 

on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

For God did not send His Son into the world to 

condemn the world, but that the world might be

saved through Him." 


Once I got everything just right, I posted my art on my social networks.

 

Jesus Collage © 2015 S.D. Harden All Rights Reserved.