Mary Jane Q Cross, Fingerpainter ~ An Inspiring Interview

"Pillar of Grace in Jaresh" by Mary Jane Q Cross

This painting is a favorite of mine by Mary Jane Q Cross because of its warmth along with the biblical and geographical setting. The romantic in me is taken back in time as I view this woman and wonder what her story is.

Mary Jane Q Cross is also responsible for many of the beautiful pictures I posted in the "Women in the Ark" Series. However, there is something special you should know about her artwork… she painted these with her fingers.

Yes, these beautiful pictures have all been fingerpainted! Tremors overtook her body years ago which removed her ability to use paint brushes. She spent five and a half years retraining herself as an artist. These pictures are a beautiful blend of her new style of art since 95 to 98% of her work is accomplished with her fingertips. The other percentage is done with a prosthetic device of brushes that she created.

My favorite part about Mary Jane is her faith! When I first "met" her through emails a year ago, I asked permission to place some of her paintings on my blog for the "Women in the Ark" Series. I felt that I should warn her of the conservative Christian content that may accompany her artwork. Her instant reply back was as follows,

"I, hands down, fully serve the Lord Jesus Christ. Being OK with "the conservative content" is a balm to my soul and a dear and lovely friend of my work."

Don't you just love her?

Mary Jane Q Cross (Photo by Cindy Wilson)

Her love for the Lord is seen through her many "paintings of prayer" and poetry that accompanies many of the paintings (my personal favorite is shown below). Her life is a wonderful testimony that God will give grace to those whose desire is to glorify Him.

Inspiring Interview... Questions with Mary Jane Q Cross:

JES: What inspired you to paint the daughter in law's of Noah series?

Mary Jane Q Cross: 

It was a trip to Jordan with a lovely large family. I was looking for scenes that would speak to me and I did find Petra and Wadi Rum captivating my historical senses. I do believe I could have painted for months with no other input. The stars at night were the same ones over my  New England and I felt how much we are so connected with other cultures and times in history. The women of Jordan were a particular inspiration. Ruth was a Moabitess. No matter what our tragic family trees can be, God is the King of redeeming what we are if we trust Him. Quiet personal trust is the theme of these paintings. 

JES: Who is your favorite woman of the Bible and why?

Mary Jane Q Cross: 

My choices change with different things that go on in life, Jes. In the past it has been Esther, the woman looking for the widow's mite, Mary Of Bethany , Martha, and the seller of purple. More tenderly right now is Leah. She was unloved by Jacob who favored Rachel. However God was so present with her to give her children. The line of Judah, her forth son, is the line of David and Jesus. What incredible Grace God makes from people willing to be His alone. There is a bit of the same kind of loneliness in being a painter. It does however make me very much look forward to being the Bride of Christ in the New Jerusalem. It is an odd kind of longing that what we long for will be fulfilled. It is also a reminder that God loves me, with a dedicated and magnificent love, just as I am. It is not for appearance, or performance, (or Leah her eyes) but unconditionally and without any reservation. It is a truly inspiring thing to be loved like this. 

JES: What historical Christian heroine is most inspirational to you and why?

Mary Jane Q Cross: 

Fanny Crosby is the most emotionally present woman I can think of. The interior life made so transparent is full to the brim. I desire that kind of  focus in what God has given me to do. Blind from a young age and so vital!!! Her lasting poetry is a legacy that is multi-layered, heart filled with a single and clear focus. No blindness there. If I were on a desert island I would want a hymnal. So I could read all the poetry of music from the church age. I play flute. Learning the new songs I have never heard is going to be part of what eternity is all about. Fanny's poetry into songs  is very present in those pages.  I feel like I can hear her footsteps, and perhaps hear her quiet. 

But there is a second woman. Less known but with perhaps more spiritual impact. Mother Dabney 1925. She covenanted with God for some pretty big dreams for her husbands ministry. Her praying intensity is faithful. I know in many instances I am faithless. But she reminds me of the prize at the end of the race. She cheers me on.

JES: Do you have any encouragement for women suffering from illnesses?

Mary Jane Q Cross: 

While being still would be Heaven to me,  the lessons that this tremor has taught me are not to be minimized or wished away. It has been a tempering that is painful but rich in listening to His guidance through it. I cannot believe it has been 20 years!!! Hiding that fact from me has been one of Gods best gifts. Some things He will reveal in hinds sight. Other's,  he gives as a promise early on. Two questions this tremor has made me answer is. Is God Sovereign? and can I trust Him?  He is , and I can and do. It makes me know He was not asleep when this happened. It is glimpse of His knowing precisely what would bring me to His knees and keep me there. First in brokenness, then in restfulness.

His Banner Over Me is Love by Mary Jane Q Cross

His Banner Over Me Is Love

Canopy over my days is jeweled

Love given, received, replete, fueled

By strongest days astounding grace

Faithfulness abounds in this holy place.

In a moment, forever my existence is changed-

Life behind ever rearranged.

I speak the words of Faith declaring You.

Eternity is contracted, life’s document new,

Passing from one life into the next,

Knowing You hold my days at their best.

I fell You place Your hands over me-

Benediction, gentling beauty You see.

Wearing Your banner as a life-sworn cloak,

Into my soul Your Spirit provokes

A welcome promise I fully give

Allegiance to You as I newly live.

Living beneath this standard blue,

I pledge my life, faithful, true

Show me the days I did overlook.

Write them forever in Thy Holy Book.

Copyright 2008 ~ Mary Jane Q Cross

You may view her gallery of paintings here or
her book "Poems of a Painter, Paintings of a Prayer" here.

The "Art" of Crochet

The Crochet Lesson by Mary Cassatt

"And Diana and I had a lovely afternoon. Diana showed me a new fancy crochet stitch her aunt over at Carmody taught her. Not a soul in Avonlea knows it but us, and we pledged a solemn vow never to reveal it to anyone else. Diana gave me a beautiful card with a wreath of roses on it and a verse…"

~ Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

The Crochet Lesson by Edward Thompson Davis

"I want you to teach me how to crochet that lace I saw you making the other day..."

~ Elsie's Kith and Kin by Martha Finley

Young Girl Crocheting by Michael Peter Ancher

"There was Miss Pole, who was becoming as much absorbed in crochet as she had been once in knitting, and the burden of whose letter was something like, "But don't you forget the white worsted at Flint's" of the old song; for at the end of every sentence of news came a fresh direction as to some crochet commission which I was to execute for her."

~ Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell

Girl Crocheting by Edmund C. Tarbell

"... good-tempered and possessing the happy art of pleasing without effort. Her little airs and graces were much admired, so were her accomplishments, for besides her drawing, she could play twelve tunes, crochet, and read French without mispronouncing more than two-thirds of the words..."

 ~ Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Crochet Lesson by Federico Zandomeneghi

"We have heard that the greatest lady in the land deigned thus to serve her soldiers. We have been told of a cravat worked in crochet by a queen's fingers which fell to the share of a gallant young officer in the trenches—the same brave lad who had carried, unscathed, the colours of his regiment…"

~ Life of Her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen, (Victoria) Vol II by Sarah Tytler

Lydia Sitting on the Porch Crocheting by Mary Cassatt

"She seeketh wool, and flax,

and worketh willingly with her hands."

~ Proverbs 31:13

Creating with Crochet and Musings on Mentoring

200 Crochet Flowers, Embellishments & Trims ~

Fresh Looks for Roses, Daisies, Sunflowers and More…

Autumn Leaves ~ Creating Compost

Autumn Leaves by John Everett Millais

“It is not everyone,' said Elinor,

'who has your passion for dead leaves.”

~ Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility

Don't the maidens look lovely in their modest apparel? Aren't the colors brilliant in this painting? I love those burnt siennas, deep oranges and rustic browns all blended together in a heap of autumn beauty. John Everett Millais, the man who painted this picture was given a place at the Royal Academy school at the unprecedented age of 11 years old! You could see why! (View the bottom of this post for more paintings by this talented, Victorian Era artist.)

Question for Mothers and Maidens:

• What do you think they are doing with the leaves? (Let's pretend they are making compost!)

Autumn Activity:

This autumn, why not prepare a batch of compost? Compost is simply free fertilizer or soil amendment for all your planting projects. Gather up the fallen leaves in your yard and place in a pile, add raw scraps from the kitchen and grass clippings (organic matter in general). You may want to place a cover on the pile (like a burlap sack) and stir every once in a while with a pitchfork or shovel. Spray the pile with water on occasion to keep it damp. Soon, you will be pleased to have a nice and rich substance resembling soil in which to indulge your garden this spring without having to invest in garden additives. For more information: visit Making Compost ~ The Basics.

"She considereth a field, and buyeth it:

with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard."

~ Proverbs 31:16

Other paintings shared here featuring the artist, John Everett Millais:

A Beauty (A Desire to Be Beautiful)

Return of the Dove to the Ark (Waiting for Ham, Shem, Japheth)

Huguenot Couple on St. Bartholomew's Day (Remembering Ribbons Series: Reformation)

Sisters (Purity is Precious: A Collection of Quotes)

This post may be shared with some or all of the following lovely link-ups: Modest Mom Monday's, Teach Me Tuesday, Domestically Divine Tuesday, Raising Homemakers, Wise Woman Link Up, and Deep Roots at Home. Thank you, dear ladies, for hosting these!

Purity is Precious ~ A Collection of Quotes

Purity

n. [L. puritas, form purus.]

1. Freedom from foreign admixture or heterogeneous matter; as the purity of water, of wine, of spirit; the purity of drugs; the purity of metals.

2. Cleanness; freedom from foulness or dirt; as the purity of a garment.

The purity of a linen vesture.

3. Freedom from guilt or the defilement of sin; innocence; as purity of heart or life.

4. Chastity; freedom from contamination by illicit sexual connection.

5. Freedom from any sinister or improper views; as the purity of motives or designs.

6. Freedom from foreign idioms, from barbarous or improper words or phrases; as purity of style or language.

~ Webster's 1828 Dictionary

A Young Girl Reading by Michael Peter Ancher

"To be pure is to be single-minded. It is to have a single goal, a single focus, and a single purpose for ourselves and our lives. That is biblical purity, and from it springs moral behaviour – the good we do with our bodies. At its core, purity is having a heart for the Lord that isn’t watered down or polluted by lesser things.”

~ Lydia Brownback,  Purity: A Godly Woman's Adornment

The Knitting Girl by William Adolphe Bouguereau

"We need to keep most careful watch over our heart, so that nothing shall ever tarnish its purity. Any corrupt thought, dallied with even for a moment, leaves a stain upon the mind which may never be effaced."

~ J. R. Miller

Innocence by Maria Ilieva

"There is dullness, monotony, sheer boredom in all of life when virginity and purity are no longer protected and prized.” 

~ Elisabeth Elliot, Passion and Purity

Girl Holding a Lily by John Simmons

“To be disgraced in the eye of the world, to wear the appearance of infamy while her heart is all purity, her actions all innocence, and the misconduct of another the true source of her debasement, is one of those circumstances which peculiarly belong to the heroine's life, and her fortitude under it what particularly dignifies her character. Catherine had fortitude too; she suffered, but no mumur passed her lips.”

~ Jane Austen, Excerpt from Northanger Abbey

Camille by Sir Frank Dicksee

“I took it for granted that there must be a few men left in the world who had that kind of strength. I assumed that those men would also be looking for women with principle. I did not want to be among the marked-down goods on the bargain table, cheap because they’d been pawed over. Crowds collect there. It is only the few who will pay full price. "You get what you pay for.”

~ Elisabeth Elliot, Passion and Purity

Girl Reading by Charles E. Perugini

"...a very few months had taught him, by the force of contrast, to place a yet higher value on the sweetness of her temper, the purity of her mind, and the excellence of her principles."

~ Jane Austen, Excerpt from Mansfield Park

Portrait of a Girl by Hellen Allingham

"I do not preach any new truth. I do not have any new doctrine... We must have a revival that will mean purity of heart as a normal standard for everybody. We must be clean people, and not only clean outside."

~ A.W. Tozer

Miss Betty Pollock by John William Waterhouse

"See, in this lily, my daughter, the symbol of innocence. Its leaves are finer than richest satin, and its whiteness equals that of the driven snow. Happy is the daughter whose heart also is pure, for remember the words, 'The pure in heart shall see God.' The more pure the colour, the more difficult to preserve its purity. The slightest spot can spoil the flower of the lily, and so one word can rob the mind of its purity. Let the rose," said he, pointing to that flower, "be the image of modesty. The blush of a modest girl is more beautiful than that of the rose." 

Mary's father then made a bouquet of lilies and roses, and, giving it to Mary, he said, "These are brothers and sisters, whose beauty no other flowers can equal. Innocence and modesty are twin sisters, which cannot be separated. Yes, my dear child, God in His goodness has given to modesty, innocence for a sister and companion, in order that she might be warned of the approach of danger. Be always modest, and you will be always virtuous. Oh, if the will of God be so, I pray that you may be enabled to preserve in your heart the purity of the lily!" 

Brought up under the care of a father so wise and loving, Mary grew up like the flowers of her garden, fresh as the rose, pure like the lily, modest as the violet, and full of promise for the future, as a beautiful shrub in the time of flourishing."

~ The Basket of Flowers by Christoph von Schmid

Sisters by John Everett Millais

“When God calls on you to pursue purity, you are not being asked to do what will deprive you of joy. In fact, you are being called to do what will bring you the greatest joy! To choose purity is to put yourself under God’s blessing.” 

~ Randy Alcorn, The Purity Principle: God’s Safeguards for Life’s Dangerous Trails

Head Study of a Young Girl by William Adolphe Bouguereau 

“Young men do not respect girls they can take advantage of - and they do not as easily take advantage of girls they respect.”

“When you chose to follow the way of purity, did you expect it to be easy? When you decided to wait for the best, did you think that waiting would be fun? Did you think that your faith would not be tested? When you decided to take the narrow path, did no one warn you that difficulties, hardship, and tears would be part of the journey, and that you would often face rejection from others and be forced to walk alone? My daughter, that which you wait for the longest you treasure the most, and through much struggle the prize is won.”

~ Sarah Mally, Before You Meet Prince Charming: A Guide to Radiant Purity

Lilac by Davidson Knowles

"There is no more beautiful adornment to womanly character than purity, and a girl does well to see that everything that concerns her dress and behavior when away from her home, on the street, or otherwise in the eyes of the public, is decent, clean, modest, and quiet. 

Purity is a precious virtue. Christ has said, "Blesses are the pure in heart for they shall see God." They perceive His nearness and this knowledge of His presence gently keeps them on the right path. Happy is the girl who walk along the way that abides with Him."

~ Beautiful Girlhood by Mabel Hale

Julia Among the Roses by Daniel Ridgeway Knight

"If a girl will come to God with her perplexities and tell Him the struggle she is having with “foes within,” and fully consecrate her life to Him, saying from the depth of her heart, “Lord, I give my life to Thee. Thou mayest have every part of it. Cleanse my heart and make it a fit place for Thee to dwell,” and trusting God to do what she has asked Him to do, she may have a pure heart. 

God will cleanse out those sinful principles from her nature and make her a conqueror. Not that she will no more be tempted; but instead of those inward struggles that are so hard to master, she will find inward grace and strength to overcome. 

There is a heavenly Visitor who will come in and fill the heart that is fully given to God, so that instead of those sinful impulses ruling there, this sweet Spirit of God will reign."

~ Beautiful Girlhood by Mabel Hale

Contemplation by Frank Dicksee

"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."

~ Philippians 4:8

Painting by John William Waterhouse

"...but be thou an example of the believers,

in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity."

 ~ 1 Timothy 4:12

These quotes on purity would also make excellent copywork for young ladies. ~ JES

Tamar's Tears ~ A Lesson in Purity

Lovely Lilacs

Lilacs by Edmund Blair Leighton

"Your lilacs are in leaf, ours are in bloom."

~ Excerpt from Letter of Jane Austen to Her Sister Cassandra

Isn't this the most loveliest of paintings! The purple lilacs waiting to be gathered by this maiden… I can almost smell the floral fragrance from this garden. Edmund Blair Leighton certainly knows how to capture the romance of yesteryears in his period paintings. Thanks to the foresight of the puritan women who brought lilacs from England, the New World was first filled with their beauty in the 1700's.

Gardening Activity:

Grow your own lilacs. Fall is the perfect time to plant these hardy plants which require little maintenance.

Study of Purple Lilacs by Paul DeLongpre

"In the garden below were lilac-trees purple with flowers,

and their dizzily sweet fragrance drifted up to the window on the morning wind."

~ Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery

You will find more information on how to take care of lilacs here.

Basket of Lilacs by Paul De Longpre 

"When the skies are of sapphire radiance

And the apple tree boughs are ablow,

Then the lilacs hang out in the garden

Their clusters of purple and snow."

~ The Poetry of Lucy Maud Montgomery

Lilacs and Roses by Paul DeLongpre

"She had stood at this window in all weathers: when locust and lilac made even ugly little Weston enchanting, and all the windows were open to floods of sweet spring air; when tie dry heat of autumn burned over the world; when the common little houses and barns, and the bare trees, lay dazzling and transfigured…"

~ Mother by Kathleen Norris

"... exactly as I've pictured it," she said. "There is no honeysuckle over the windows, but there is a lilac tree by the gate, and—yes, there are the muslin curtains in the windows. How glad I am …"

~ Anne Of The Island by Lucy Maud Montgomery

A Study of Lilac and Roses by Madeleine LeMaire

"And that," said Mary with solemn delight, pointing under a big lilac bush,

"is where he perched on the little heap of earth and showed me the key."

~ The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

"The grass withereth, the flower fadeth:

but the word of our God shall stand for ever."

~ Isaiah 40:8

All the fine print…

Book Excerpts from Growing Lilacs, United States Department of Agriculture, Home & Garden Bulletin Number 199

   Thank you to the Graphics Fairy for some of the lovely lilac graphics.

This post may be shared with some or all of the following lovely link-ups: Modest Mom Monday's, Teach Me Tuesday,  Domestically Divine Tuesday, Raising Homemakers, Wise Woman Link Up, and Deep Roots at Home. Thank you, dear ladies, for hosting these!

Sweet Summer Scenes of Beautiful Girlhood

Summer Choices

Hollyhocks

Strawberries

Peaches

“To be strong, and beautiful, and go round making music all the time. Yes, she could do that, and with a very earnest prayer Polly asked for the strength of an upright soul, the beauty of a tender heart, the power to make her life a sweet and stirring song, helpful while it lasted, remembered when it died.”

~ Louisa May Alcott, An Old-Fashioned Girl

Ode to Beautiful Girlhood

All paintings on this post are by a favorite artist of mine, Patti Bannister (official site).

Linked up with: Raising Homemakers