“Prairie Milkweed Afternoon I” by Jacqueline Perry, acrylic on canvas 20″ x 24″

“Prairie Milkweed Morning” by Jacqueline Perry, acrylic on canvas 20″ x 20″

“Prairie Milkweed Afternoon II”  Jacqueline Perry, acrylic on canvas 18″ x 14″

My french easle set up at Our Lady of the Prairie Retreat Center near Big Rock, Iowa. This is the first state for “Prairie Milkweed Morning”.

Thank you to Kathleen and Kathy and Our Lady of the Prairie Retreat Center (info at: http://www.chmiowa.org/catering_to_the_soul.cfm ) for your amazing hospitality these past five days. Thank you for your prairie bread, and homemade wild plum jam this morning!

What a perfect place to spend my last week of summer sabbatical. I began my time away in a soft muddy slough; I end the time surrounded by dry prairie grass. God’s creation is beautifully complex…and good.

My art project this week was to find the quiet center in the midst of complexity. Surely, I can apply these lessons to my ministry.

I am grateful to my congregation, First Congregational Church of Moline, for their gift of a sabbatical. The time has allowed me to explore more deeply ways to bridge art and faith through nature.  I plan to continue this blog and to explore art, faith, and nature, personally and in community. I hope that you will share your reflections with me. In gratitude–Jackie