Who Do You Say That I Am?

Hello!  ¡Hola!  I can't believe that Summer is gone, and that the students at our parochial school are back in class.

Speaking of time, I made a space aliens card trio for my 2 grandsons and their cousin, who are having a "3-2-1 Blast-Off" birthday party.  (They are all September babies.)  For my design, I was inspired by Just Add Ink Challenge #792 Choose Two (Gingham, Circles, Flowers, Sequins), The Paper Player Sketch Challenge PP800 by Ann, Love Those Pretty Papers Challenge Look To The Skies, and What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday.  I used a Sizzix Tim Holtz Postage Stamp Frame Bigz die & Pete Hughes Infinite Doodles dies; Spellbinders Dancin' Birthday Monster, Smart Glasses, & Classic Pooh Alphabet dies; Fiskars star template & punches; Googly eyes; a variety of cardstock colors, textures, & prints; a Dymo label maker; and Copic Fine Nib pens.

Next, I have a postcard I did inspired by Pablo Picasso's "Mother With Dead Child On A Ladder."  This was a study in pencil and crayon that he did for Guernica, in 1937, which is regarded as the most moving and powerful anti-war painting in history.  I began by embossing a piece of yellow cardstock using a Baofali Irregular Stereograph embossing folder.  Then, I sketched the drawing with a pencil and used crayons to color it.  Finally, I cut it to fit on a 6x4 inch black postcard.  I am submitting this piece to Sunday Postcard Art Cracked by Deann (Thanks for featuring my Italy postcard), A Place to Star Challenge 202608,  Can You Handle The Pressure - 8/2026 Anything Goes, and Friday Face Off.

       

I painted this mermaid and jellyfish scene on an ATC, inspired by ATC Around the World #140 Summer, Sun, Beach, The Little Things #07 Mermaids and/or Fish, Paper, Rocks, Scissors Challenge #19, and Art For Fun Friday.  I used Faber-Castell Gelatos, which I blended with miniature Color Shapers.  For the lettering I used a Sakura Gellyroll pen.  It was a quick, but fun piece to make!

This photograph mosaic is my "this, that and the other" for the week.  The first picture is of mugs I had made using photographs of each of my grandsons, which I gave as Christmas gifts to immediate family members.  The second picture is of a Gulf of Mexico Coast toad, that I rescued from my swimming pool.  The last picture is of my wife and me, that my daughter took, after our visit to the Museo Picasso, in Barcelona, Spain.  I'm submitting these pictures to T Stands for Tuesday, Saturday Critters, Mosaic Monday, and My Sunday Best.

In closing, I'll leave you with a summary of my sermon for Matthew 16:13-20:

In this Gospel reading, Jesus seems to be testing the disciples.  First, he asks what they hear and see around them.  Then, he asks, "Who do you say that I am?"  In this question, he wants to know what they hear and see within themselves - what's in their heart.  Simon answers, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God."  With this answer, Simon re-centers his life - Christ is the axis around which he will present his body “as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.”  Hence, Jesus exclaims, "You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church."  We are continually distracted by issues such as family, desires, finances, culture, ideologies, politics, and idols.  That's why Jesus wants us to continuously re-center our lives on Christ, so we can become a new person, rock-like, the foundation on which the presence and Glory of Christ lies.  So let us shape our lives into the "rock" that Jesus created us to be through our words and actions as we love God above all things, and all our neighbors as ourselves.

Thanks for visiting!  ¡Gracias por visitarme!  Please leave a comment, and I'll be glad to reciprocate, so that we can get to know each other.

Shalom,

Arnoldo+