Bible Journalling | Art from the Word

My women’s Bible study class is working through Beth Moore’s new study on 1&2 Thessalonians. This week, we did some thinking about the Holy Spirit, and how He is sometimes metaphorically referred to as wind.

I first started thinking about the meaning of this verse back in college in 1789. My undergrad degree is in dance and theater. I choreographed a piece for the annual dance concert one year, using John 3:8 as inspiration.There was no music, and I made these props for the dancers Lynn, Paulie, and Pam. They were plastic drinking straws stitched on long pieces of elastic. The dancers used the props with many kinds of movement qualities: whipped them around, softly moved them back and forth,with rhythm and without. They made their own music, simulating the wind; sometimes whispers and sometimes near roars. Just like the Holy Spirit. It was pretty cool.

Back to class this week in 2014….Beth gave us an assignment to write down characteristics and things we know about the wind. Think about how these words that describe the wind, relate to the Holy Spirit:

ebbs and flows

soft or strong

a powerful source of free energy

can move objects

you can hear it coming

the sound can be soothing or frightening

you can hide from it

you can’t see it

you cannot control it

and my favorite: it can feed a fire

Can you think of any more?

This page in my journaling bible was done with watercolor pencils (tutorial), a water brush, and a black micron pen.

I am praying for the Holy Spirit to feed the little fire in me.

Count it all joy (James 1:2),

I do a good amount of journaling of bible studies and scripture, but how did I never think about doing it right in my Bible? I even own a bible with wide side margins that is perfect for it. Imagine pulling out your favorite or the most meaningful verses to you, and drawing them right on the page. Talk about bringing the scriptures to life!

And since this is a spiritual endeavor more than an art project, it doesn’t matter if my printing is straight or the paint bleeds on the paper. The journalling is just to help me remember.

I started with something with a literal visual, so it would be easier for my first one.

Research turned up a lot of materials that will work on the thin pages of a bible, but in the end, I just used what I had. Inexpensive cake watercolors worked great with the water brush.

Watercolor pencils worked great too. That is what I used for Colossians 3: 12-14. Go to the watercolor pencil tutorial to learn how to use them.

Here is the water brush I used. And I used a Micron pen to outline everything. The Micron pen does not run with water, and it come in colors and different diameters.