The Grace of God

I'm back with a little story about our church that I drew in 2016, and finally colored. Our family has been helping to build this church for the last seven years, and it is such a gift to see the grace of God working in our community. Please consider supporting our mission!

Comics in New Martyr Magazine

I've fallen behind on my monthly-fool-daily, but I'm still making comics! New Martyr is a new quarterly magazine for Orthodox kids, and I've contributed a recurring comic "Draw Near" to the last two issues, as well as hidden picture puzzles. Each issue features stories and illustrations from a variety of contributors (and some kids!) relevant to the season and feasts in the church year. I was excited to draw some St. Lucia ills for the Winter edition, since we have a Lucia in our house. The next issue will arrive in time for Holy Week - so be sure to order yours!

Draw Near in the Winter 2016 issue - featuring St. Lucia Day!

A Hidden-Picture Puzzle and Recipe for the Winter 2016 Issue

Fr. Paul Drozdowski's lovely illustrations of St. Herman 

So, it looks like I my daily might have become a quarterly, but I'm persisting! Thanks for checking in with me. ;)

Mine Eyes Have Seen Thy Salvation - St. Simeon

We love the extra-biblical backstory of St. Simeon, and I love the colors in this one. 

As a Bird She Escaped - St. Barbara

This month's Fool [ahem] Daily tells briefly the life of St. Barbara. Her story, and the miracles and legends associated with her, are pretty fantastic, so I focused on those and left out the more sordid details of her martyrdom. I have some thoughts about how this turned out and how it could be better, but I'm remembering being told that I shouldn't immediately point my audience to all the things I don't like - so I'll let it stand on its own. If anything, these comics are fun for me and perhaps I won't worry about being too critical now. An icon of St. Barbara is included below. 

But the Hardest Part

If you can resist the oreos, maybe you can resist that guy who's got it coming.

Tempation is everywhere

...even in Oreos.

The hard part of Orthodox Lent

...its not over yet.

Pascha

The consequences of existing in the world...

Forgiveness Sunday

Orthodox Lent begins this Sunday! We're a little late this year. :) I may take clean week off from the comic, I haven't decided yet.

Three Legged Stool

More lenten preparations. I drew this little doodle to teach my kiddos about balancing the three components of our Lenten effort, and thought it would be fun to make an animated gif.

Almost

Gearing up for Lent and feeling both excitement and dread!

Lady Meatfare

Today is one of those days I've been running crazy trying to accomplish all the things, and I didn't realize I had forgotten my cartoon until 10:00! I was working on some Lenten education materials, so I turned one of those doodles into todays comic.

For my non-Orthodox/non-Greek readers, Kyra Sarakosti (literally Lady Lent, or Lady Forty Days) is a personification of Great Lent. She has 7 legs for the 7 weeks of Lent, her arms folded in prayer, and no mouth to represent the fasting. We're in the 3 weeks of preparation before Lent now, so today's comic features Kyra Sarakosti's lesser known sister, Kyra Meatfare.

Almost time! A blessed fast to those of you celebrating.

The One Storey Universe

This is a series of theological cartoons (not my regular daily comic, I suppose) based on the writing of Fr. Stephen Freeman about Christianity in a One-Storey Universe.

I grew up, happily, in a fundamentalist Christian denomination until about a decade ago when I experienced a crisis of faith. Fr. Stephen's writing has played a crucial role in my conversion and continued faith in God, by holding my hand through a major paradigm shift. His writing about the comparison of a two-storey universe and the one-storey universe most clearly explain this paradigm shift, and I return to re-read these articles frequently. This is about a faith that is not abstract or at odds with the natural world, but the reality that God is with us and fully integrated into our life and world.

Since I first began reading about this metaphor I have pictured it in little cartoons, but I only sat down to draw them this last week. Forgive me, I can't promise they illustrate the concept perfectly, and they have a little humor infused (at least, I think they do). Most of these cartoons come out of the writing at the link above, but he has written many more articles to expand this topic; see also these discussions on the church and unbelief.

A House Blessing

Orthodox bless their homes each year between Theophany and the beginning of Lent. Our house blessing was yesterday, and so today's comic reflects on the sacredness of all things. "Nothing is profane except that which you profane." 

Hourly Comic Day

Whew, this was harder than I expected! I think I learned a lot about what is really necessary, and what is beautiful and communicative. I still have a lot to learn about media, and need to practice working with the figure more. This was a great exercise.

The Morning Watch

Ss. Xenophon, Maria, John and Arkadios

After drawing today's daily, we read today's saint story in the Prologue. This was such a unique and fun story, I wanted to draw it, too!

Fool For Christ