Ravens beat Denver!

Terrible Drawing Today....

Some drawings are just terrible. Sometimes drawing can flow so smoothly it is like a beautiful dance. This one was ugly, ugly, ugly.... Only three things to do...blog about, post it and start over...

Daily Drawing

Daily Drawing...

Daily Drawing

Each day I choose one picture from redditgetsdrawn to draw

Daily Drawing

This is from a picture that a dad took with his son wearing Viking hats on a vacation and he wanted to have it drawn in a different context.

Daily Drawing

Amish man waiting for a train in Philadelphia Train station

Daily Sketchbook

Daily Drawing

A new chapter begins....

Last friday brought an end to my restaurant career and the beginning to Jackie's nursing career. Who would of ever thought I would quit Famous Dave's the same day that Jackie would get hired. The Lord is always working in ways that are not my ways....more to come.

New Website is Up!!!

Just posted my new website. I am looking for a job as a User Interface Designer. Check it out.

www.kurtaspland.com

On another note...so much has taken place since the last time I posted hopefully I will be able to update soon.

Why Pray?

Most of you know that I am a christian. A lot of you also know that one of my favorite historical people is a man named George Müller. George Muller was a man of prayer. This area of prayer has been the most challenging for me, especially over the last 8 years. Why the last eight years? A lot of the things I have prayed for have not come to pass, especially the things related to my professional goals. I am an artist, not a lawyer, athlete, doctor, etc. This is what I have been made to do. The down side is that we live in a culture where being an artist is more of a hobby, thus to make a living as one is an upward battle right from the beginning. But, I was of the opinion that truly God would bless my efforts. If I work hard at my craft, walk in an upright manner, pray, give, and have faith–things would go well. Well to date things have not gone well. In fact it seems to me that my professional pursuits have been on a slow downward slide over the last 8 years. Which brings me back to prayer.

This slide has brought me to a deeper understanding of prayer.... 1. It is to glorify God. 2. It is to express praise unto God. 3. It is to express thankfulness onto God (things that are and have been). 4. It is to ask for forgiveness for ones lack of faith, selfishness, pride, lust, basically sin. 5. It is to call for help in time of need, dependance. 6. It is to ask to be taken care of on a daily basis.

To my shame... I am afraid that over the last 8 years the focus of my personal prayer has been mostly about the want of monetary success in the area of art. You could even add in here the want of healing, the want of a family, the want of happiness, the want to help the poor. All of these noble, but they may not be the will of God for your life. The prayer that Jesus taught his disciples when they asked Him to teach them how to pray; started with praise, adoration and emphasized His will be done. Not mans will or even the will of Kurt Aspland "the artist" (as noble as that might be). It seems best to me to put the emphasis on praise, thankfulness and forgiveness in my prayers for the future. Happy Thanksgiving Week Everyone!

A family feast of prayer...

The upside to difficultly is a better pray life. It seems the more often than not I am praying a lot more through the day. Often times my quick prayers are overheard by others and they confuse it for talking to myself. It is sort of humorous in a sort of way. This has only become a way of life since all the job trials in the last 5 years. Anyhow, it just is becoming more automatic, and I forget often where I am and who might be listening.... I had three ladies come in the other night...a grandmother, mother and daughter come in the other night for dinner. So far nothing stood out from any other guest that I have waited on. I recommended that they get a Feast for Two. It is a meal served up on a trash can lid and the whole table eats it family style. These are easy to ring in as a waiter and the kitchen is able to get these out fast. Anyhow I got their drinks, there food is delivered and now it is on to the table of 14 (6 adults and 8 children). Busy is an understatement. After 15 min. of taking the orders and drinks request of the large table, I check in with my table of three ladies. That is when the grandmother reaches out grabs my arm and starts to get teary. She then tells me how this is the first meal they have had since her son passed away two days ago and that they are traveling to NY for the funeral the next day. It the midst of the chaos time stopped for a brief second. Not thinking of where I was, or what I was doing, I asked her if I could pray for her, very little time to think, just a knee jerk reaction. So there we are, my hand on her shoulder, praying for her and family for peace, mercy and comfort in the midst of the dinner rush at Famous Daves in Bel Air. Press On All!! Press On!!

The Weight of the World

I was working late last night at Famous Daves (My new job as a server) and a couple of servers asked me about why I was working there. I shared with them my story, about how my business had taken a dramatic slide since 9/11 and never recovered, how I have been with out work for almost a year and that this was the only job that came my way in nine months. In turn I asked them about themselves and they also shared how they are high school drop outs, mothers at the age of 19 and left on their own by their own families. In fact one waitress showed me a text where a man of whom she knew, offered her $500 for sex. Ug! the pressures of a sinful world. Whom of us would not be in worse off situations had not the Lord stepped in to help. Of course I awoke this morning with the weight of these girls predicaments on my heart and mind. How can the Lord use me? What can I do? I desire to step in and assist them in some way, but how? I will look unto the Hills to see where my hope comes from... it comes from the Lord the maker of heaven and earth. May Jesus help me with this yoke and make it light.

A Fresh Start....exercise included

I started a new job 4 weeks ago. I have entered into the world of serving tables at Famous Daves BBQ. The job is great, a lot of things to blog about. The hours are great... evenings. This allows me to continue my freelance design/illustration work during the day and then Super Server by Night! One added thing.... I am on my feet walking almost 6 hours a day instead of sitting in a chair watching TV and eating a bunch of junk. So if you want to lose weight, get paid while doing it, go get a job as a server at your local restaurant.