This past weekend I painted live onstage for four services at my home church, Bridgeway Christian Church. We have live painters onstage during the whole service (one and a half hours long) semi-regularly, an acknowledgement that our creator God has given us many different kinds of creative gifts that we can honor him with. I also happen to coordinate this fledgling program, now halfway through its first year. We have five painters that rotate through, choosing the various scriptures that are to be taught that weekend, based on what we each have felt called to translate into our own visual language. It’s a wonderful experience for painter and congregation alike.
Prayer and meditation are very often a part of my creative process, regardless of the subject or intended audience. I have long now understand that I was created to create and take my calling seriously. Somewhere in this creative process, I felt very much compelled to begin a new series that I have no idea where I can begin to show it, but somehow that has become secondary to the fact that I must create it. The first three pieces were smaller and produced to submit to a specific call for art that they were not accepted for, and I’m now looking for where they will go – I’m sure it will become apparent at some point.
When I first sat down to consider what I would paint for the weekend of July 20 & 21, I came to the scripture with an open mind. But when I started reading through Isaiah 59 & 60, it was almost immediately that I realized this would be the next phase of my new series.
I have decided to call this series Specimina (Specimens of Faith,) illustrating basic concepts of the Christian faith with various natural specimens that I have collected. For all of these pieces for Isaiah 59 & 60, I chose a square format as a reference to the New Jerusalem in Revelation, that is described as a cube, and I chose a light palette, to represent how God will be the only light needed both in the millennial Jerusalem and the New Jerusalem.
Like Doves to Their Nests
“Look and see, everyone is coming home!.. flying like clouds to Israel, like doves to their nests.” Isaiah 60:4, 8
Not only illustrating the verse written on the piece, a nest is a symbol of home, heaven, and Jerusalem in the millennial kingdom, inspired by Isaiah 59-60. The dove is also used as a symbol for the Holy Spirit, who has put a seal on believers, promising them the joy of eternity with God.
Arise Jerusalem
“Your sins have cut you off from God… Among the living we are like the dead.” Isaiah 59:2, 10 “Arise Jerusalem!” Isaiah 60:1a
In Matthew, Jesus says that God knows when even a sparrow falls, and how much more he watches over each of us, so sparrows have become a common symbol in my works. Death is the true consequences of sin, so there is dual meaning in the dead sparrow here, and Isaiah 59 specifically points to the consequences of Israel’s sin. The ram was inspired by Isaiah 60:7, “The rams of Nebaioth will be brought for my altars” and can also symbolize how God provided the appropriate sacrifice for both Abraham and for us. Butterflies allude to the new life we have in Christ, as well as resurrection of the dead.
Sanctuary
“The glory of Lebanon will be yours – the forest of cypress, fir and pine – to beautify my sanctuary. My temple will be glorious!” Isaiah 60:13
A magnolia blossom, surrounded with pine needles refers to the trees of Lebanon in Isaiah 60 and to the beauty of the earth that God has created as well as to the future glory of Jerusalem in the millennial kingdom. The sparrow is a reminder that God watches over his children, as Jesus told us in the book of Matthew.
Joy to All Nations
“I will now have mercy on you through my grace… I will make you beautiful forever, a joy to all nations.” Isaiah 60: 10, 15
As believers in Christ we are co-heirs with Israel and promised a new life in Christ, symbolized here by the butterfly. My personal recurring symbol of the sparrow refers to how God has promised to always watch over me, and I often include it to remind myself of that truth, as much as to share it with others. Nests are a home, another personal symbol that refers to heaven, or can also be a reference to Jerusalem as where God will make his home in the millennial kingdom, fulfilling his promise to Israel.