Impact

I am determined 
to transform every awkward part of me
every tear
every fragment of pain
every feeling of misfit
into a masterpiece of a life
one in which
possesses power

and purpose
one that radiates LOVE
in such a way that even those
in distant lands 
feel my touch
rays of sunshine
SONshine
healing rays
warming rays
rays of hope
rays of light
dispelling darkness and all of its bondage

Fetal Position

Grown woman

growing woman

working woman

full-time and part-time

earning dollars

paying bills

dreaming dreams

hoping hopes

touching lives

envisioning visions

seeing manifestations

praying prayers

waiting...

hearing answer

planning lessons

teaching children

encouraging youth

empowering souls

washing dishes

running errands

intercessing

checking on loved ones

mopping floors

doing laundry

wiping tears

meditating on WORD

Neosporin 

painting pictures

reading words

writing letters and papers

mailing love

making mistakes

working to improve

making plans

acting actions

trying

grown woman

growing woman

and yet sometimes

I just want to 

cUrL uP

in FETAL POSITION

wrapped in love

wrapped in warmth

hats off

boxing gloves down

and just be

HELD

One Step At A Time

I Am Enough

Grapplling With Time

Sometimes I feel time is running away from me

Other times I feel like time is TAKING FOREVER!!!!!

running out of...

losing...

making up for lost...

in sync with... 

rarely ahead of...

feeling like I need more of...

trying to make the most of...

TIME

pressure building 

anxieties rising

trying to find answers and ways, words and ideas

trying to make right moves

in the nick of...

just in...

right on...

TIME

tick tocks trying to dictate heart rhythms and blood pressure

but wisdom takes a deep breath

takes a step back

then picks up the clock

and runs with it

with all its might

with all my might

with all that it is

with all that I am

making the most of what is

unmoved by what is not

unshaken by the ticking

making melodies, rhythms, recording lyrics

that refuse to be bound by the tempo of the clock

tick tock

tick tock

tick tock

grabbing hold of time

dancing with it

attentive to it

yet not bound by it

my essence exceeding its barriers

time in my Father's hands

time handed to me

to steward

to use

to spend

to run with it

in wisdom

in truth

in boldness

with power

And I Know He Watches Over Me PII

And I Know He Watches Over Me

More Than A Conquerer

This piece was created for someone dear to me at a time when my words and hugs couldn't touch the places that needed to be touched...

This piece was created when I couldn't "fix" anything...

This piece was created in hopes of encouraging him...

This piece was created to let him know I care and am in his 

corner..

This piece was created to remind him that everything was going to be alright...

Painting with Purpose

Painting to emPower

Painting to uplift People

~Ashley Jataun Moore

Pain to Piece to Peace

If I could put my pain on canvas

and walk away free

I'd do just that

If I could capture my tears in ink caplets

I'd release them in handwritten poems

and keep my pillows clean

"Band-aids can't heal a soul

but time and paint can"

~Ashley Jataun Moore

Seeing "Me in Action" Through Someone Else's Eyes

Art Night

A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to facilitate an art night with New Life Open Bible Church in Springfield, Virginia.  I had the opportunity to share the message behind my work as well as usher others (both youth and adults) through the process of creating their own masterpieces.

Envision

The Promise

Keeping His promise running through my mind

and in my ears

and settled in my heart...

Below is a link to Andrae Crouch's song, "The Promise" which served as part of my initial inspiration.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnXkDgM1B18

Make Me Wanna Holla!

Tranquility

Faith and Grace

Write

What's right is that I WRITE

with all my might and all my heart

with all my mind and all my soul

WRITE

Write until I come out of this pit

Write until I can tell again my right from my left

Write into my new niche

Write into my rightful spaces and places

Write where I belong, right where I belong

Hugged by Home

Tonight, I let home give me the hug I need

and I hug back

candles singing to me

Maroon 5 and Tenth Avenue North on deck

Embracing every room

Home hugs and I hug back

The simple blessing

of being home

Thank you Lord for home.

Reflections

I look up at my wall and see wrapped in blackness

the essence of what's running through my veins

the voices of those calling me forward and onward and higher and deeper

the reflections of my soul

John Lewis

A Dancer

Corretta Scott King

Jackie Robinson

Maya Angelou

and Me

All staring back at me

While sitting in my bed and looking at my wall

greatness in still-life form stares back at me

beckoning me

reminding

encouraging me

strengthening me

I see me

surrounded by

fortified by

the same things that are in me:

Fortitude

Passion

Strength

Talent

Poetry

John

A Dancer

Corretta

Jackie

Maya

Me...

I see Me

Someone who wasn't made to fit into

the molds others create for her

Someone who's yet to see all she was destined to be

Someone who fits in among the posted frames of

John, a Dancer, Corretta, Jackie and Maya...

I see the inner me

I see the true me

I see me and the lives framed around me

and am encouraged

to stand

to dance

to continue

to preserve

to write

to BE

by Ashley Jataun Moore

The Growing Revelation

I look up from where I am sitting, and I see the picture collage above my desk.  The pictures remind me to embrace myself- all of me:  my strengths, imperfections, quirks, past, present, dreams...  The pictures urge me to love and embrace myself

and to BE GREAT

to go out and DO the greatness that is in me- that is in all of us.

Now is the time to accept ourselves, love ourselves and go out and share ourselves with others.

Today is the day to stop rejecting ourselves.

Today is the day to let go of the hurt, rejection, baggage we've acquired throughout life.

Today is the day to soar and triumph at being ourselves.

There is greatness in you.

Today is the day to lay down any shame, any weight that causes our heads to drop.

Embrace yourself:   the gift of your life, the gifts within...

God loves you unconditionally and created you with great purpose.

Today is the day to release and allow yourself to be and be great.

Jimmy Potters Studio

Today, I visited Jimmy Potters Studio.  I went with the intention of getting a taste-test of what goes into the creation of pottery, but I left with so much more.  

I had the opportunity to meet and learn a little about the founder and owner of the studio, Jimmy.  He's opened two locations and intends to open another.  

It is important to constantly feed your motivation and inspiration tank.  Meeting Jimmy and seeing the product of his passion and hard work was food for the soul.  I don't know his full story, but I know enough to deter any thoughts of settling for a mediocre life.  

It is possible to work your gifts and allow them to "make room for you."  I feel like God strategically places people along my path as vision-checks for me.  He allows me to see people walking in purpose and passion as a means of reminding me that IT IS POSSIBLE.  

IT...

IT

IT IS POSSIBLE...

BELIEVE AND DO...

REST AND PREPARE...

CONSTANTLY FILL YOUR TANK WITH LIFE...

KEEP BELIEVING AND CONTINUE TO DO...

WATCH FOR, EXPECT, AND EXPERIENCE GREAT FRUIT...

http://jimmypotters.com/

More than a Conqueror

Pieces Behind the Scenes

Much of our lives happens behind the scenes
Before the curtain opens
Below the surface
In the roots
Inside the vines and branches

Production
Fruit
Masterpieces
Are just a part
A piece
Pieces of me that I share

But the other pieces
Pieces of me
The piecing of me
The peacing of me

Lay in less visible places and spaces at times
They lay not in the ends but in the middles

Poems and canvases being chapter cliff-notes

Today, however,
Today I write about the middles

The in betweens

The gap between thought and articulation
The gulf between experience and understanding
The river of reflection
The time in between revelations

Life in between
Processes in between
Growth in between

Preparation
Learning
Sitting
Walking
Reflecting
Growing

The pieces in between

Pieces seen and unseen
And the piecing together
Of those pieces
Behind the scene

All a part of me
Fitting together
To make the whole of me