Heart of Gold

A heart of gold is all I need.

Strong and brilliant as a joyful cry

Welling up inside as you see

One thought dead, alive.

The Baby Jesus

I know Catholics are known for loving on baby Jesus a lot and not just during Christmas… I mean He’s all grown up now and our King of Kings, mighty in heaven, etc right? But I believe it so important we remember that in His humanity he was God and that each stage of his life expressed his full divinity just as we all as babies were fully ourselves and our mothers remember us tenderly, vividly and love on that image of us in a way that almost plays back those very moments before their eyes. And Jesus was the most beautiful of children, a living image of what it was to be child-like and not childish. He was perfect when he cried, when he slept, when he peered out those wee eyes in confusion! So how much more should we meditate on that divine little babe! Jesus in his perfection never lost childlike goodness because He is all things good. That is why I do not find it strange to see depictions of Jesus as a child with deep, knowing eyes because it so wonderfully symbolizes his essence in two ways- That he is all the good of a little boy and all the good of a man, that innocence and wisdom can coexist in one being. As He grew He never stopped being a child. We were the ones that forgot because we see a man with our eyes and so we expect his manliness, but not his divine childishness. We see the courage of a King when he dies upon the cross for the love of His Queen, but forget the unfailing trust of a small child who still believes every word his father tells him even at the threshold of death. And so I find it natural to call upon His Divine Childishness to help me preserve all the good of my youth, because it is inextricably bound to helping me invite all the good of adulthood.

How beautiful is my Lord in every single light, in the morning or in the night, in my memory or here in sight, it is you and so I rejoice in everything you touch, all the things that you are are are. For he is who he is whether he is big or small in a manger or on the cross.

Have a Blessed Christmas my friends.


Keep me in your prayers and I’ll keep you in mine. Send your prayer requests over the next couple weeks to fgarza@g.risd.edu.

With Hope,

Fabi

The Hunger Games: Katniss Everdeen

sketch

I was drawing Katniss during a meeting, when one of my co-workers asked if it was her, I said yes and then we high-fived! When I finished the series I was such a wreck that I cropped the drawing and painted it up as therapy. 

- Fabi

The Tale of January

"To see him you'd think he'd be cold to the touch, but his hug was so warm it saved me from the frost that had nearly gone to my heart. And here you find me safe and sound, as whole as when I went into the forest. I don't think I'll be afraid to go play there anymore." 

-Lucia, the morning after the snowstorm.

January is a very important character in the story of the Twelve Months. January holds the keys to the the New Year. He is commonly referred to as The Doorway.  He is the oldest and wisest of the months and can't be bothered with the petty quarrels of his younger brothers and sisters. He is the first to meet little Lucia and saves her from the deadly snowstorm that swept up the land on a quiet winter night. She becomes a little light in his life and him in hers.

The Twelve Months is a Concept Project that is inspired by the Russian fairytale by the same name, which I am recreating in my spare time. It may become a graphic novel or children's book but for now it simply remains a world of fancy I visit sometimes. Please visit the other pages under the tag of Twelve Months for more.

{Initial Sketches}

{Color Study}

{Face Study}

{Drawing for Final Paint Render}

{Final Painting}

{Face Detail}

{Cloth Detail}

A Happy Thanksgiving and Winter to you all!

Fabiola