JANNA VANDERVEEN
Fiction Author & Artist
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I tried something a little different over the last two weeks – tried to do a messy type of watercolor painting, with more intuitive painting and expressive strokes. It was hard to step back and let loose. I almost threw the painting away, a place I find myself frequently, but I embraced the mess, entered the chaos, and found beauty within. It helped to spur the thoughts of the poem below…. When… Read More
Hope dwells in this gardenWhere all are welcomeAnd none are denied.Its inhabitants baskIn the wonder of every fulfilled hopeAs they remember from where they came. Their jubilant songs of gratitudeInfuse the airLike the sweetest incense,As they revel in the truthThat all are restoredJust as was promised. For having stormed the gates of hell,Their healer took back the keysAnd saved all,Proving with finalityThat not even the grave nor hellCould separate them from his… Read More
You welcome all, In this garden with no walls, Where flowers bloom At your gentlest touch And life thrives At the faintest whisper of your song. You awaken peace In the most fractured hearts, Promising belonging and acceptance With arms spread wide. You knit together broken souls Using words that restore. Your breath is a soft exhale, Water that heals, Quenching the most unbearable thirst. Your fire refines, A final, most powerful… Read More
She never gives up, For her love is relentless. She cradles the world in her heart And awakens transformation with her breath, For her song cannot be unsung And the light of her existence cannot be extinguished. ~ Janna Vanderveen
She enters the shadowlands, Transforming darkness into light And wasteland into beauty, For her love liberates the deep And there is no wound she cannot restore. ~ Janna Vanderveen
She comforts those who grieve and cradles the wounded for she knows that love heals and that every journey deserves to be heard and every story believed. ~ Janna Vanderveen
She wears her love like flower petals, and beauty blossoms in her heart like incense, filling this garden with the heady aroma of her unconstrained joy, and no one can deny their worth. ~ Janna Vanderveen
She waits, her gaze eternal, as she welcomes all, for nothing can destroy her love. ~ Janna Vanderveen
She embraces the universe and cradles the tiniest particles of life with compassion because she knows that this action matters, and that her love will heal the world.
She sings and the birds join in For they recognize her song as love, And they know they belong. ~ Janna Vanderveen
She is brave and speaks her truth for she matters and her worth is beyond measure. ~ Janna Vanderveen I have been participating in, studying, and utilizing Internal Family Systems Psychotherapy (Parts Theory) in my life, both personally and as a therapist in my job. While I painted, I contemplated this process of healing which involves identifying, understanding, and interacting with the different parts of ourselves (wounded/exile, protective, firefighter, and core-self parts)… Read More
She is fearless. Her love is a light, Which makes all things flourish. Her home is a sanctuary, A garden filled with life, And no one is turned away. ~ Janna Vanderveen
The wind, the trees, All bend their knees As love flies next to me, Like lightest air It touches my hair And slowly wakens me. I sigh its name The soft refrain Like water, drenches me. Its eyes meet mine Warm flowers that shine And knows the depths of me. This garden of light Where lovers delight Has won the heart of me. ~ Janna Vanderveen
You prepare a table Within this valley of beauty And my tears flow For I know I am in good hands You and me together. ~ Janna Vanderveen
When you speak, Wild things rise and shine, All a flutter, And my dreams flourish, Golden in light. ~ Janna Vanderveen
“Knock, and he will open the door. Vanish, and he will make you shine like the sun. Fall, and he will raise you to the heavens. Become nothing, and he will turn you into everything.” ~ Rumi. I completed this 8 x 10 painting using Daniel Smith and Winsor Newton Professional Watercolor Paints and Luminance Pencils by Caran D’ache. Painting inspired by a photo taken of a ball-jointed doll created by artist… Read More
When the rocks cry out And animals sing They boast of love And peaceful things. Each hallowed night With reverent tone They linger in the embrace Of their Holy Unknown. ~ Janna Vanderveen This 16″ x 20″ painting was completed using Golden acrylics, FW inks, a variety of ephemera, chalk pastels, Derwent Inktense pencils, Caran D’ache watercolor crayons, and Luminance Pencils.
Kindness intoxicates, its aroma smelling of unconditional love while its beauty rivals the most verdant of blossoming flowers. May we choose today to be intentional in our thoughts and actions as we live out lives of kindness.
MY COMMUNITY
Sweetheart by Janna Etsy Shop
JANNA VANDERVEEN 