(Please click image to see detail)

This is a special week for Illustration Friday participants - the topic is "Open", and for the first time ever, viewers will be allowed to vote for their 5 favorite designs! The top 25 overall will get to show their illustrations at an exclusive IF show at "Open" - an art gallery and bookstore in Long Beach, California opening on November 3rd. The voting will be open for 2 weeks. Click here to read more details and get in on the fun! There are a LOT of really great pieces this week - don't miss out!

When I saw that the topic was "open", I thought of everything from the mundane to the sublime, but it was ultimately the word "wonder" along with "open" that provided the initial inspiration for this piece. We are surrounded by wonder and beauty in everyday things and ordinary people - if we would just open our eyes to see it. Likewise, possibilities for our lives are wide open if we would just open our minds to them - dare to dream, take a chance... Finally, many times, from fear or lingering pain, we close ourselves off from love - it's too fraught with peril, too risky we say... but if we would open ourselves up to love - to receive it and to give it, we would find that the rewards FAR outweigh the risks!

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"There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear..."
1 John 4:18

"We love because he first loved us."
1 John 4:19

"Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart."
Psalm 37:4

"What a wildly wonderful world, God! You made it all, with Wisdom at your side, made earth overflow with your wonderful creations."
Psalm 104:24