Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Grape Vine Tree

I had to search back to see what I have on file that hasn't been posted yet and I found the sixth in the bead embroidery Tree of Life series by Sheila Stockton. This particular tree happens to be a grape vine, in line with when Christ said "I am the vine, you are the branches..." in John 15. With Christ as our ultimate source of life in Heaven, this would completly appropriate as a tree of life interpretation.

However, Sheila gives another scripture reference, from a new earth passage in Isaiah 62:8-9, “The LORD has sworn by his right hand and by his mighty arm: ‘Never again will I give your grain as food for your enemies, and never again will foreigners drink the new wine for which you have toiled; but those who harvest it will eat it and praise the LORD, and those who gather the grapes will drink it in the courts of my sanctuary.’”

Either way, we don't usually think of the tree of life as a grape vine, but I think it totally works and it might have also been one of the traditional Jewish depictions, though I could be entirely confused on that one.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

mustard tree complete





As part of my catching up with all our visions, I've discovered I hadn't posted the completed Mustard Tree piece that I had first written about last July... of course, it was complete and on display for the show in December, but I'm just now getting it posted here. (As always, just click on the image to see it larger.)

This is also part of my Tree Stories series, and is titled Tree Story #30: The Mustard Tree. It was inspired by Matthew 13: 31-32, "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed planted in a field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but it becomes the largest of garden plants; it grows into a tree, and birds come and make nests in its branches." (See also Luke 13:18-19.) You can see the whole explanation about the mustard tree on the previous post.

This piece is available as limited edition pigment prints:
8x10" (matted to 11x14") - $65
11x14" (matted to 16x20") - $125
16x20" (matted to 20x24") - $250
20x24" on 24x32" paper - $500
Just email me at judith@judithmonroe.com if you're interested.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

back again!

I'm back again at long last! What can I say? I got busy getting ready for Christmas, enjoying the holidays and then I just had a hard time getting out of vacation mode after it all - but the blog must go on, so here I am again.

I'll still be posting Heaven art work on this blog & I think I'll start posting various other Covenant Artist happenings and artwork as well...

Today I've got a Visions of Heaven piece by Vincent Dixon, a talented oil painter and comic artist. If you look at his oil paintings you can often see the comic artist in the way he handles his figures, as in this piece that he's titled "Harvest Time." For a scriptural reference, Vincent has cited Matthew 13:30, "Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn." You can see that Vincent has chosen to illustrate this scripture in a traditionally literal style, with angels as harvesters and wheat representing those who believe in Jesus as the Son of God, who stands in the field as the harvest is gathered.