And so it begins. . .

So I've been excited since yesterday afternoon and all through this morning about this new blogging thing I've tackled. I keep thinking of all the things I want to talk about and share with you. I have so many varied interests and things that I'm proficient in. I will try my best to be as focused as possible per post, though.

I told my mom about this blog, told her about the title. She didn't think much of it until I explained my thought process behind it. She said "You should explain that in your first entry." To which I replied that I had explained it, although not in the same sense that I had described it to her. "Well, you should write down what you told me, because it's more understandable that way."

So here goes. First off, it's hard to pick a name for anything online anymore because everybody else has already commandeered what you initially think of. So, then you start moving words around, breaking out the Thesaurus (online of course), and trying desperately to come up with something that doesn't sound ridiculous but still alludes to what you're all about.

I came up with lots of different names, trying for things that included art or sketching or faith in them. Then I started to think about the image that comes up so often when one talks about how God is always molding us, much like a potter works with his clay.

However, I'm not a potter. In fact I managed to get through all of my 3-D art classes only because I worked my rear off, not because I'm in any way accomplished at the field. So the idea of an artwork in progress appealed to me, but I didn't want it to be about clay under my fingernails (yech!).

Shepherd and Sheep sketch

 As much of my talents lie within the 2-D field, I began to think about how I produce an image for a piece. It usually begins with a pencil in my hand and a spare bit of paper. It's funny, I've never really thought about how I start an image, but usually it's with a circle or curved line near the corner or edge of the paper. This is simply how I break the ice between me and the blank space of the paper. "Hello paper, it's Jamie." This is going to sound absolutely nuts, but I then pause, looking at that line waiting for it to "talk" back to me. What will the next line look like?


I'm not the kind of artist who can have an idea in my head and then produce it on a blank canvas looking exactly like I imagined it. In fact, I love the fact that all of my works go through an evolution. This is where I allow God to work through me, moving my hand, my mind, and my heart to what He wants me to see. 

Blind self portrait in continuing line

I actually went to college and got my degree in Fine Arts. I had a professor there who absolutely hated the method of drawing with quick hash marks, making your drawing look "furry". His idea was that you went with one solid line and did not erase. That you had to be confident enough to be okay with that line. Needless to say, he didn't really like me. Because the next step in my process is in fact the "furry" line. I begin to sketch out the forms of the shape, going back over some lines, feeling them out, adding more curve here, taking a length out there. I then go back with my eraser and take away what is non-essential or what gets in the way of the idea I'm trying to get across.

Hence the title "Eraser Marked Soul".

I know that I'm like my sketches. God is with me, working on my image as a whole, leaving some lines, taking some away, allowing for my soul to evolve and become what He longs for me to be.