Healing Meditation Banner

Carrot Top Studio is now offering a selection of small banners on our etsy site. The image to the left is our newest creation.

This 24 x 30" art quilt would be meaningful hung in a church, retreat center or the quiet spot of your home. Use it to help you focus and center your thoughts and prayers.The images remind us of the story of the Samaritan woman at the well from John 4:1-26. The jug recalls the woman seizing the opportunity to get water from the well. Jesus uses the water as a metaphor to teach the woman. It is seen on the banner horizontally and vertically. The stones disappear visually to remind us that living water through Jesus "washes away" our sin. The woman goes to the well but receives so much more!

This inspirational banner is created out of cottons in a multitude of fabrics. The symbols are all machine appliqued. It is backed with a coordination dark blue cotton broadcloth. It has a 3" hanging sleeve that runs across the back for you to run your own dowel, curtain rod, or natural branch through for hanging (see photo).

Email us to arrange a purchase ($115 + 6.00 S&H/US) of this banner jenny.gallo@CarrotTopStudio.com!

Announcement

The green stole created for our birthday celebration is no longer available at the special price as mentioned in the previous blog post. Thank you to all our clients that chimed in.

If you love a bargain, great deals are still available for our celebration on ebay. Auctions end Thursday at 9:45 EST!

It's Our Birthday!

It's been three years since I took my faith, my quilting, art quilt, painting and educational skills and combined them to create my business at Carrot Top Studio. We love every day (I'm so not kidding as my teenagers would say). It's a pleasure to offer unique, handmade stoles and worship banners to ministers, pastors, priests, churches and wedding officiants worldwide. To celebrate we're offering stoles at $3 opening bids on eBay! These special auctions will close Thursday, May 29th.

We are also offering the green stole shown on this post for $33.33 + 6.00 S&H to US clients, 10.00 S&H to Canada and 12.00 to Europe. This offer is available to the first three people that email us at jenny.gallo@CarrotTopStudio.com. The stole is 49" long. It is embellished with a voided cross on the chest as a reminder that we are called to preach the gospel to all corners of the world. The border fabric is a lovely batik that carries many colors of Ordinary Time. It is lined with a solid green broadcloth and is interfaced for added body. Our clients and friends are wonderful....we have greatly appreciated your support the past three years. We welcome any suggestions of how to better serve you for the next three years at Carrot Top Studio. Thank you!

Trinity Sunday

This Sunday many people will celebrate Trinity Sunday. It commemorates and honors not an event, but a reality: the Holy Trinity. Trinity Sunday falls on the Sunday after Pentecost. The Trinity is a mystery. By mystery the Church does not mean a riddle, but rather the Trinity is a reality above our human comprehension that we may begin to grasp, but ultimately must know through worship, symbol, and faith. Symbols for the Trinity include three interlocking rings, shamrocks, the Chi-Rho, and an equilateral triangle. We see these in art, worship baners, architecture, and on vestments among other places.

A prayer I like for Trinity Sunday is:

Father, who sent your Word to bring us truth and your Spirit to make us holy. Through them we come to know the mystery of your life. Help us to worship you, one God in three Persons, by proclaiming and living our faith in you. We ask you this, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one God, true and living, for ever and ever. Amen

For worship, Creating God, Your Fingers Trace is a Trinity Sunday hymn with the text based on Isaiah 45:7 The auther (Jeffrey Rowthorn) uses present participles to draw our focus to a God who is still working in our world.

And how would you explain the Trinity to children? You could try using a mobius strip. Children would even love making their own!

The how to:

Cut a length of adding machine tape — about 30 inches long — for each child. Show the children how to write the words "God" and "Jesus" on their strips spaced one on each end of the same side. Then flip the strip over — so the words are face down — and upside down. Then write "Holy Spirit" in the middle. Turn one end of the strip 180 degrees and fasten the two ends together securely, taping both sides. Twist the paper once and bring the ends together so that the paper forms a continuous loop (with one twist that won’t be very obvious). Tape the ends together. Now run your fingers over the paper from the word "God" to "Jesus" and keep on going. The word, "Holy Spirit" that started on the other side of the paper, is now on the same side as God and Jesus. If you fiddle with the paper, you can shape it into a triangle — and God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit can all be read. What will the children say these strips tell us about God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit?

Pentecost

On this Pentecost Sunday it is fitting to think visually. This oil painting on wood is titled Pentecost and is by Chris Shreve. Chris states that he uses his art as a prayer, a meditation. The story of the birth of the church is familiar to many of us. The Bible is a gift that can be read and reread with new meaning and understanding gleaned from each exposure. The story is found in Acts 2 and begins with: When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

Relating to the art of Mr. Shreve you might consider the following questions:

• What is this a painting of?
• Is it fancy or plain?
• Do I recognize any images?
• What kind of lines do I see? How are the lines used?
• What colors did the artist use? Are they warm or cool colors?
• What does the color remind me of, or what feeling does it give me?
• What does this artwork seem to tell me about the subject?
• If I made this artwork, how would I explain it to others?

May this art draw you closer to the season of Pentecost as we explore and examine what it means to us personally.

For Your Book Shelf

I recently found a quiet Sunday afternoon (I love the Sabbath!) to sit and savor Art for God's Sake: A Call to Recover the Arts by Rev. Philip Graham Ryken. This little gem draws out the Biblical view of the arts and the artists who make art for God's sake. Ryken concisely discusses how artists are called and gifted by God and recognizes how art is often misunderstood or rejected by the church. This book is full of encouragement for artists. It affirms that God loves all kinds of art (meaning types of medium) and that we as artists should have a high standard for goodness, truth and beauty.

I would recommend this book if you are considering incorporating the arts into your ministry, if the visual arts in your congregation can be improved or if you have a group (artists and non-artists) that needs a book to use as a discussion starter. The icing on the cake is Ryken's concluding suggestions for further reading. Pick up this highly recommended book to enjoy the conversational writing style. Maybe you are being called to be a catalyst to recovering the arts in the Church.