Kristin Hill Taylor

Seeking God as the Author of Every Story

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{Giveaway} Seasons with Soul captures truth

April 8, 2013 by Kristin Leave a Comment

I’m welcoming my God-sized dreaming friend Elizabeth Anne May here today. She captures beauty and truth in the pictures she takes with her camera and the ones she creates with her words. More than once, she’s summed up the condition of my heart when I didn’t even know how to put my own thoughts into words. 

Today, I had my first Artist Date.

{I’ve just started The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. It prescribes a two-hour Artist Date every week as part of a creative recovery or discovery process.}

According to my new guru, Julia, I’m supposed to be feeding my inner artist-child — i.e., not doing anything boring or practical — so I choose ice cream, sunshine, and flowers.

We’ve had a long, hard winter, so the appearance of sunshine and 50-something temps is cause for celebration. And, I’ve recently come off a food challenge that mandated no dairy, grains, or sugar. {If you knew me, you would know cheese, bread, and chocolate are my dietary holy trinity, making this no small feat.}

So, I pick up a novel, a Drumstick, and my camera {as well as technical necessities — my mobile phone, baby monitor, notepad, and pen}. First, I head to the new spot my husband’s cleared just outside our chain-link fence, a few feet from the creek bank.

I revel in cream and caramel and crunch. I listen to creek-shush. I’m pleasantly startled when a mallard skitters up and away. I contemplate the delicate beauty of sycamore tree-tops against pale-blue sky. I read fiction {something I haven’t allowed myself in far too long, being too busy with a huge stack of non-fiction tomes that counsel me on improving myself, my marriage, my parenting skills, my prayer habits, my artistic habits, and more}.

I probably only sit still for a half hour or so. Play is hard work for me, and I opt to move on.

I head to the patch of crocus under our hydrangea bush. They’re a positive riot of white, violet, and orangey-yellow that I must try to capture.

I throw down an old towel and stretch all the way out, getting level with the beauteous bulbs. I play with angles and point of focus and depth of field. I am no expert, no trained photographer, but I find that I increasingly search out beauty through my lens. I seek out nature’s glory, and find that I can uncover loveliness in the most unlikely places, have even done so in the dead of winter.

I particularly enjoy pairing my photos {of flowers, moss, seed pods, bark, or ice droplets}with scripture. It seems an especially apt marriage. I believe God’s creativity shines brightest through his handiwork in nature; it’s his ultimate art project. <—Tweet This!

In mid-February, I opened an Etsy shop, selling original photo prints, enhanced with scripture typography.

While, most days, my focus is on writing and blogging, I love playing with photography. {Here’s an area where play is easy for this busy, Type-A mom.} I relish the opportunity to take off into my yard and explore, finding unexpected treasure.

When my sweet friend here, Kristin, asked if I’d like to write a guest post about my Etsy shop/photography and host a giveaway, I was thrilled to do so. This week I’m giving away a 5×7 print of your choice from the shop. You can enter by checking out the prints and then commenting below about which one you like best. Kristin will randomly select a winner on Friday.

There’s more! I’m also offering a 20% off coupon for Kristin’s readers this week. Simply enter code GRANDOPENING at checkout.

________

Elizabeth grew up on a small, 220-acre farm in the Midwest and lives today in the suburbs with her three littles (10,8, and 3), her husband, and their ditsy but lovable English Springer Spaniel. She’s a food freak, lover of all things DIY, and a reformed perfectionist  She also has a habit of training for and running a half-marathon in the spring and then eating chocolate the rest of the year and avoiding exercise. 

A professional writer who’s worked in higher education and health care for the past 15 years, Elizabeth gave up her paying clients in September to work for a new boss. {She’s says He’s divine.}

You can find her writing about faith, family, and nature at Seasons with Soul or follow her on Twitter.

Note: This post contains an affiliate link. If you click through the link and make a purchase, Elizabeth will earn a small percentage. It’s clicks like these that help keep her site up and running, so thanks!
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Filed Under: giveaway, God-sized dreams, guest post

Comments

  1. Elizabeth Anne May says

    April 8, 2013 at 12:10 pm

    Thanks for having me here today, friend!

    Reply
  2. Mandy says

    April 8, 2013 at 12:42 pm

    Oh, how exciting! Can I choose the note cards? If not, then I choose "This is the day the Lord has made…" Beth, you are rocking this kickoff your Etsy shop. Way to go! Yay!

    Reply
  3. Mandy says

    April 8, 2013 at 12:50 pm

    Oops! I might not have posted my first comment correctly, but if I did, and there are 2, please feel free to delete:) –This is SO exciting! Can I say that the note cards are my favorite? If those don't qualify for the giveaway, then I choose "This is the day the Lord has made…" Beth, you are rocking the kick off of your Esty shop! Yay! Way to go, girls!

    Reply
  4. Kristin Anne Smith says

    April 8, 2013 at 3:32 pm

    I have to say I LOVE the purple flower with the Proverbs verse. That is one of my favorite verses! 🙂 Beautiful pics!!

    Reply
  5. Elizabeth Anne May says

    April 8, 2013 at 5:08 pm

    Thanks, Mandy!! You know I love your Etsy shop too 😉

    Reply
  6. Elizabeth Anne May says

    April 8, 2013 at 5:08 pm

    Thanks, Mel!

    Reply
  7. Elizabeth Anne May says

    April 8, 2013 at 5:08 pm

    Kristin: that is probably my "life" verse, if I had to choose just one!

    Reply
  8. KristinHillTaylor says

    April 8, 2013 at 5:25 pm

    So glad you're here! Your artwork is gorgeous!

    Reply
  9. KristinHillTaylor says

    April 8, 2013 at 5:26 pm

    I didn't know you had an Etsy shop too. I need to go look at it! And I bought some note cards for gifts … they're so lovely! So good choice there, Mandy! 🙂

    Reply
  10. Alecia Sheffer Simersky says

    April 8, 2013 at 6:19 pm

    Lol, Your dietary holy trinity-mine too! I love them so much and they are always the thing I have to give up in order to lose weight 🙁 All of your pictures are beautiful, if I had to pick one I think I like the Be Strong and Take Heart, with the yellow flowers the best! 🙂 Love nature pics with scripture it's my favorite!

    Reply
  11. Elizabeth Anne May says

    April 8, 2013 at 6:51 pm

    Yes, of course you could choose the note cards!

    Reply
  12. Elizabeth Anne May says

    April 8, 2013 at 6:51 pm

    Fun to know we have the same tastes, friend!!

    Reply
  13. Justine Register says

    April 10, 2013 at 3:16 pm

    They are all absolutely beautiful! Thanks so much for sharing. I never win anything – just not my luck! BUT, my favorite is the "Trust in the Lord" print. Trust is my one word for 2013 and this is the verse I picked to go along with it. Have an awesome rest of the week!

    Reply

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About Me

Telling stories is my therapy and I love sharing them with friends on my porch.

The main characters in my stories are my entrepreneur husband, our ninth-grade girl who never forgets, our have-no-fear sixth-grade boy, and our joy-filled kindergarten girl. As we live out our stories, we seek God as the author of them all.

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