Visions

and a challenge...

2011-11-25T17:39:00.001-08:00

The closing video challenge for the creative arts worship weekend at Bridgeway.

Purpose - Closing Challenge 10/30 from Bridgeway Christian

art as worship

2011-11-25T17:36:00.000-08:00

This was created for a special weekend of creative arts in worship for Bridgeway Church in Rocklin, where I now attend. I'm so blessed to be a part of this!

Art As Worship from Bridgeway Christian on Vimeo.

exhibit at gallery w

2011-10-02T16:40:00.000-07:00

I've got a show up at Gallery W at Warehouse Ministries in Sacramento this month called "With Eager Hope." Here's a look at the title piece as well as my artist's statement. We'll be having a reception Thursday, October 27th at 7 p.m. where I'll give a little talk as well.

My artwork grew from the desire to walk with God in the garden, like Adam and Eve did, searching for that closeness wherever green things grow. Years ago, I thought I was looking for the lost garden and my heart ached to think it was gone forever; then while studying Scripture, I realized that I was actually looking forward to the time when God will bring heaven down to earth again, restoring Paradise and our relationship to Him. I’ve tried to envision what that would possibly look like, what a perfect earth would be like, but I know my imagination is woefully short.

Whether an artwork has Scripture in it or not, this is the basis of all of my work: looking for the tiny glimpse of what heaven on earth will look like, what it will feel like. I am constantly inspired by the beauty that God has created and encouraged by my faith in Him to look forward to the time when the full beauty of that creation will be revealed.

“But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. .. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children...” Romans 8:20,23

door to the spirit

2011-08-15T12:42:00.000-07:00

Kathleen Ellertson is a Covenant Artist friend who shared a piece of work with me, so I'm sharing with you...

Here's what she had to say about it:

"I wanted to share a painting I did which hangs in my Aunt Ethel’s convent room in Dubuque called the Door to the Spirit. This painting was inspired by a picture I saw in an article by Joyce Rupp, a self described “spiritual midwife”. The doorway spoke to me of the various doors we must walk thru, and how we must be transformed, pursuing our union with God. The individual’s return path to Him is as unique as this view."

Thanks for sharing, Kathleen!

art of christmas: judith monroe

2010-12-26T09:00:00.000-08:00

Prophecy of Hope
Mixed media on wood panel, 48” x 48”

Isaiah 11:1— Out of the stump of David’s family will grow a shoot – yes a new Branch bearing fruit from the old root.

This piece illustrates one of the prophecies about the birth of the Messiah. Over several chapters of Isaiah, the nation of Israel and people in general are referred to as trees or a forest. Isaiah talks about God’s anger at Israel’s disobedience and his coming judgment as a wild fire that would destroy the forest of Israel, and of allowing the king of Babylon to chop down Israel like trees before he would be a mighty tree felled himself. It was in this context that the hope of a new shoot that would grow from the stump of what was left of David’s family tree was given.

As I was working on this piece, it came to me that I should make a small section to the left primarily green and then separate the section off with a red stripe, and another red stripe across the top to balance the composition. This would be a new kind of element that added to my work and I literally asked myself, “Why would I do that?” As I pondered and stared, I realized that I would be creating a cross, red like the blood sacrificed by Christ there; and on the other side of the cross there was new life, represented by the green field. This was not my idea, but truly inspired by the Holy Spirit and I was thrilled and humbled by the experience.

Judith Monroe
www.judithmonroe.com

art of christmas: terry ray flowers

2010-12-25T09:01:00.000-08:00

Before the Foundations
Assemblage

Rev 13:8— …everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of like of the Lamb who has been slain.

Both Before the Foundations and Father’s Heart have to do with the revelation the Jesus’s birth, life, death, and resurrection were not an afterthought brought about by man’s fall but a strategic plan put in place before the foundations of the world.

Terry Ray Flowers
www.boxartgospel.com

Seed of David
Assemblage

2 Samuel 7:12-16— …I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom…

Romans 1:3-4— …concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David…

This piece refers to the fact that Jesus was a direct descendent of David as prophesied in 2 Samuel, the Davidic Covenant, and confirmed in Romans.

Terry Ray Flowers
www.boxartgospel.com

Father’s Heart
Collage 5” x 7”

2 Tim 1:9— …who has saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity.

Terry Ray Flowers
www.boxartgospel.com

art of christmas: teresa harbert and julie bjorgum

2010-12-24T09:00:00.000-08:00

Poured Out
Turkey egg pysanky

Isaiah 53:7-12— …He poured out Himself to death and was numbered with the transgressors, yet He Himself bore the sin of many, and interceded for the transgressors.

While reading through Scriptures related to Christ’s coming and His birth, this image of Christ pouring Himself out for us struck me.

Along with the more traditional star and stable symbols I included a red egg representing His shed blood to complete the real Christmas story.

Teresa Mihalko Harbert
www.eggsbyteresa.com

A Debt I Can’t Repay
Shredded credit cards 12” x 14”

Romans 5:8— …But God demonstrated His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

A nest is like the foundations we build, the place where we put that which is most important to us…LOVE.

Can love be bought with money? On credit? Why would someone give us money when we haven’t yet earned it? Yet wasn’t Jesus given to us when we weren’t worthy? When we had nothing of value to offer in return?

Christ was the treasure that lay in a manger. And He was given to us when we couldn’t pay the price for our sins. Christmas isn’t about worshiping the straw. Its about what was IN the straw. The gift of Love.

Julie Bjorgum
www.aplaceinmyart.com

art of christmas: stephen scott

2010-12-23T09:00:00.000-08:00

Inshallah/Deo Volente
Mixed media 12” x 12”

Luke 1:26-38 — …I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her.

I buy frames and display boxes in thrift stores. For this piece I mostly used images from the photos I took while travelling in India and different parts of South East Asia. In both instances, the frame and the images are `redeemed, recycled and repurposed.’
I would like to think that this kind of renewal carries a faint, imperfect echo of the possibility that God offers any of us through the coming of His Son.

According to the earlier verses (26 on) Mary was initially troubled by the angel’s visit, and uncertain of the meaning of what was being said to her. As the implication of the angel’s words began to dawn on her she asked questions. And then she placed herself at God’s disposal. `Inshallah’ is how they say `If it is God’s will’ in a Middle Eastern context. This was Mary’s attitude when the angel told her the impossibly good news.

Stephen Scott
www.cana-arts.blogspot.com

art of christmas: ronna scott

2010-12-22T09:00:00.000-08:00

The Gift
Oil 11” x 14”

Isaiah 7:6— For to us a child is born to us a son is given.

Rev 22:17— The Sprit of the Bride says “come!”….let us take the free gift…

The chaos of the darkness represents a life lived without a relationship with The Heavenly Father. Life can be so difficult and yet accepting The Gift is so simple. In Revelations it simply asks us to come and take the gift.

While The Gift is simple to accept, my walk with Christ has taken many twists and turns, always with the request to look deeper.

Ronna Scott

art of christmas: raulin olivera

2010-12-21T09:00:00.000-08:00

Angel's Announcement 1
Graphite 18” x 24”

Luke 2:8-14— Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel praising God...

Prior to joining the Covenant Artist's group I had seen some photos by Norbert Rosing on the Internet of polar bears and sled dogs interacting in a very peaceful and playful manner. They were awe inspiring and sparked in my imagination images of what Creation may have been like before the fall of man. After joining the Covenant Artist's group and entering into discussion, prayer and Bible reading with the “Art of Christmas” and the birth of Jesus in mind I was inspired by Luke 2:8–14.

The angel announces Jesus' birth to the shepherds. I imagine that the first angel to appear was Gabriel because he is consistently the messenger angel and the heavenly host was a large number of other angels. Angels are most often scary to humans and since I enjoy drawing animals and birds, I decided to depict angels as polar bears (also scary to humans). Border collies are a shepherding dog so I chose to use them to depict the shepherds in the story. Gabriel is not shown but is in the position of the viewer as he speaks to them.

Raulin Olivera

Angel's Announcement 2
Graphite 18” x 24”

Luke 2:8-14— …Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.

The scene and the background for this drawing are the same as "Angel's Announcement 1."

This is my expression of the angel telling the shepherds about Jesus' birth but with a different twist from the first. Gabriel is in the drawing and is represented by the large eyes overlooking the scene. Polar bears are angels of the heavenly host and the border collies are shepherds.

Raulin Olivera

art of christmas: randy blasquez

2010-12-20T09:00:00.000-08:00

The Light of His Birth
Oil on Linen 40” x 40”

Isaiah 9:2— The people who walk in darkness will see a great light: Those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them.

For my piece for the show, I felt drawn to the idea of the Light of Christ. Originally I was envisioning a large abstract piece with a scripture written within the piece. Something with clouds showing the light of the Messiah.

I was feeling that connection to His Light at the beginning, while he was in the womb through to His Birth. Then somehow the two ideas came together when I read this verse and I painted this ocean scene.

Randy Blasquez
www.randyblasquez.com

art of christmas: katie murphy

2010-12-19T09:00:00.000-08:00

His Purpose
Mixed media on canvas 36” x 12”

John 12:27-28 — Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!”

The purpose of Jesus’ birth was His death for us. In this verse, Jesus is absolutely unwavering in his willingness to fulfill this purpose set before Him. He has complete confidence in God and what He is about to endure for us.

To emphasize His confidence, I partially covered up the beginning of the verse with images and symbols of His earthly journey. No matter how troubling His circumstances, He lets God lead His life every step of the way, and glorifies Him in the midst of it all.

I thought it only fitting to also include Jesus’ command iin John 15:12. “My command is this, love each other as I have loved you.” Jesus loved with utter confidence and sacrifice, patience, kindness, forgiveness, mercy, and grace. He loved those whom we might categorize as “unlovable.” Are we not all children of God? It may be troubling to our hearts at times to love this way, but it is what he asks of us. Jesus humbled Himself, came to earth, and fulfilled His purpose for us…are we willing, with humility and God’s consistent help, in spite of troubled hearts at times, to fulfill ours for Him?

Katie Murphy
www.justwonderingthrough.com

art of christmas: kathleen ellertson

2010-12-18T09:00:00.000-08:00

Mary’s ‘Yes’
Sculpture 24” x 12”

Luke 1:26-80— …”I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said."

This piece represents Mary raising her hands, spirit and heart up to the Lord, saying “Yes” I will give myself up and over to You. I will be Your Mother. It represents the power of how a simple “Yes” to Jesus is so mightily received by Him – and how much it means. It also represents the fact that God reaches us where we are.

I work with computers and the media is shredded CD’s.

Kathleen Ellertson

art of christmas: dianne mattar

2010-12-17T09:00:00.000-08:00

Leaning on Him
Acrylic on canvas 24” x 20”

2 Samuel 22:2-4— The Lord is my rock, my fortress & my deliverer: My God is my rock in whom I take refuge…..leaning on Him.

The real Spirit of Christmas is looking beyond our traditions to living the true joy of the birth, death and resurrection of Christ by seeing within each of us a heart decorated with God’s love.

Christmas gave us a living God who came to earth to make a way for us to have eternal life and is the beginning of knowing that God is at our side through all the conditions in life. The undertow of the world may pull us down but with Christ by our side we will surface and be able to stand tall.

Dianne Mattar
www.dmattar.com

art of christmas show: allison carlos

2010-12-16T09:27:00.000-08:00

I know many people can't make it to the actual gallery show to see all the works that have been created for this year's Art of Christmas show, so now that it's up (and my school semester is over) I'm posting all the works with the artist's description for the next several days - I think it will be our "Eleven Days of Christmas," if I've counted right. Enjoy.

Mary
Oil 48” x 24”

Luke 1:26-38— I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her.

This painting is about how God uses everyday people within their everyday circumstances to fulfill his purposes. Mary (and Joseph) were going about their lives of faith, yet if they were not attentive to the movements of the heavenly realm and truly believing in his presence in their lives, …. well … who knows what Mary might have said. BUT, what she actually said was after initially being a little unsettled, “I am the Lord’s servant”.

Allison Carlos
www.allisoncarlos.com

prophecy of hope

2010-11-07T21:44:00.000-08:00

Just so you don't think I've been slacking on this Art of Christmas project, here's a shot of my work in progress, which I'm calling "Prophecy of Hope" based on Isaiah 11:1. You can read more about this piece at my Wanderings blog.

I'm also hoping to get more images and details about artworks when the show goes up - next week!

jm

the light of Christ

2010-11-04T16:50:00.000-07:00

This week we get to see another artist's piece, nearly finished! Randy Blasquez creates wonderful oil paintings and tells us about her approach to this project:

For my piece for the show, I felt drawn to the idea of the Light of Christ. Originally I was envisioning a large abstract piece with a scripture written within the piece. Something with clouds showing the light of the Messiah. I was feeling that connection to His Light at the beginning, while he was in the womb through to His Birth. Then somehow the two ideas came together when I read this verse and I painted this ocean scene.

THE PEOPLE WALKING IN DARKNESS HAVE SEEN A GREAT LIGHT (Isaiah 9:2)

I’ve been working on some ideas to get the lettering onto the canvas so a viewer can walk up to the painting and read the verse….

Randy Blasquez

all God's creatures...

2010-10-28T16:39:00.000-07:00

One of our artists, Raulin Olivera, usually draws animals so his challenge was how to use his talent to portray part of the Christmas story. He explains how it's coming together, with some of his sketches:

The most inspiring passages for these drawings, the polar bears and the border collies anyway comes from Luke 2:9-14, specifically, "An angel of the Lord appeared to them..." 2:9 and, "Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising and saying "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."" 2:13,14.

I had seen some incredible pictures of polar bears and sled dogs on the net by Norbert Rosing which caused me to think about the bears as massive, scary creatures who have a softer side that may come from their designer. Angels are always scary when they show themselves to people in the Bible so I thought that the bears could work as angels in my drawings.

Also, just over a year ago I had a border collie named Boo... So, border collies, also on my mind became a good candidate for the shepherds.

With those two characters for illustrating the Christmas story I began sketching the scene from Luke 2:13, 14 in pencil.

As my sketches matured I started enlarging the characters. I found that pencil wasn't working for me as well as I'd hoped so at the suggestion of you (I believe) Judith I dug-out my charcoal supplies, made a trip to Aaron Bros. and picked-up some supplies there which included a large tablet, compressed charcoal, black and while conte crayon etc.

My current debate with myself is about adding color to it. I know that I am going to use white conte crayon in places but I am thinking about adding a sepia tone as well.

Now the birds are an unrelated topic. I just like to draw predatory birds. The one bird in flight is a Red Tail Hawk and the other is a woodpecker. The variety slips my mind at the moment. Inspiration for these was from the blessing of being able to see them in our neighborhood and pictures of them in books or other photos. Scripture for the birds comes from Genesis 1 and the six days of creation. Birds were created on the 5th day starting in verse 20 And God said, "Let the water team with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky."

In our small group we have been studying with the aid of a book called The God of Creation by Theodore Epp. The author is dead now and the book out of print. But we were able to obtain a few used copies. He was the founder of Family Radio which was on KEBR, I believe. Anyway, he delves in deeply to the creation story which has helped us uncover details of creation that we may have not previously been aware. I can only imagine the world being filled with birds in the blink of God's eye and all of the variety and uniqueness of each.

-Raulin

sacred spaces

2010-09-27T15:22:00.000-07:00

Covenant Artists have been meeting biweekly lately to read over Scripture about the Christmas story & the many prophecies that concern the coming of Christ. Many have begun to get visions of what God would have us communicate - or what God is communicating to us - from these Scriptures and it's an exciting process.

Finally, we are beginning to produce sketches and share our ideas and visions in a physical manner. I'm hoping to get several artists to share with me so that I can share them on this blog.

Allison Carlos has a passion for the concept of creating sacred spaces, such as within sanctuaries and she has shared some sketches with me, so now I'm sharing with you. She was particularly inspired by the scripture in Luke 1:28-35 and Matthew 1:20.

Alison explains, "I merged my work on creating pieces for sacred spaces with the Christmas Art Project. My concept for two pieces that are intended to hang together are: (1) Mary with the angel telling her about how the Holy Spirit will hover over her and she will be with child (little Jesus) and (2) Joseph's dream when the Lord tells him that he should not be afraid to take Mary home as his wife even though she is pregnant."

"So, the two rough sketches are attached. The challenge is that I intend to paint these pieces using the colors of the Church Calendar. These are Advent pieces, and the primary colors for Advent are purple and blue with some use of rose. The challenge comes with the use of this very limited palette of analogous colors (colors essentially from common sides of the color wheel). So, we shall see how it goes."

art of christmas in july

2010-07-27T17:13:00.000-07:00

Covenant Artists is taking on another group art endeavor! This time we will be working in community and digging together into the scriptures that prophesy and tell the story of Christ's birth.

Based in prayer and Scripture, our hope is to create a show that will convey the Spirit of Christmas in a Sacred Space. We will talk about what this means as we encourage each other along the journey to create our own inspired pieces. Our goal is to include many forms of expression including fiber arts, painting, sculpture, clay, photography, drawing and more.

Artists interested in participating are invited to join us biweekly for inspiration while considering our works for the show. We'll be meeting from 7-8:30 p.m. at Folsom's Oak Hills Church for these special times of gathering to explore our role in God’s plan for our gift from Him, the Creative Spirit.

Meeting dates:
August 5th
August 19th
September 2nd
September 16th
September 30th
October 14th
October 28th

For more information email Judith Monroe at judith@judithmonroe.com.

teresa's eggs...

2010-06-11T18:54:00.001-07:00

So only about three months later, here are close ups & some of Teresa Harbert's words about her works. (Sometimes time really does fly!)

“Waves” Chicken Egg Pysanky

Sometimes I have a specific symbol in mind when I start an egg, and sometimes I just play with shapes. This wave pattern was fun to stretch into an all-over design.

“Quilt star” Chicken Egg Pysanky

I’ve always loved translating traditional quilt designs onto my eggs. Here the Ohio Star pattern features prominently.

“Feathered Pinwheel” Chicken Egg Pysanky

My challenge in this show was to take simple forms such as this pinwheel and make each one unique. Without the distraction of color the design had to be distinctive enough to stand on its own.

“Eternal Circles” Goose Egg Pysanky

All the bands of design circle this egg without a break which historically in the art of pysanky signifies eternity.

“I Am the Vine” Chicken Egg Pysanky

We bear fruit as Christians only when we remain connected to Christ.

Thanks so much Teresa, and next time I will be faster, I promise! jm

imagine that...

2010-05-13T19:30:00.000-07:00

I wrote this review for Amazon, so I thought I'd share it here, too. I've gotten to know the author, Manuel Luz, and I'm happy to recommend his book, Imagine That.

For too much of my life, I didn't understand the connection between my creativity and my Christianity; after much studying and prayer, I came to realize that art can be an outpouring of my faith and an integral part of my relationship to God. Reading this book, Manuel Luz takes the reader through much the same course of questioning, study and prayer, pointing to our Creator God as the source of our creativity.

Manuel shares his heart while digging into the relationship between the artist, the church and God, with all of the follies and joys that come with any set of human relationships, then points toward a way for understanding on all sides. In the chapter "Art and the Spiritual Disciplines," the reader learns how art can be a spiritual discipline in and of itself, bringing the artist closer to God.

"Imagine That" has become one of the touchstone books in my collection on art and faith, a book that I devoured cover to cover and that I am now leading a group of artists through as the basis for study and discussion. The questions that Manuel poses at the end of each chapter have led to some of the most profound and stimulating discussions I have ever had with my fellow artists.

I've also compiled a list of books on Art & Faith you might be interested in reading, which I add to now and again. jm

now showing at art & soul gallery

2010-02-24T13:03:00.000-08:00

Reflections in Black and White
February 21 – April 18, 2010

Teresa Mihalko Harbert

I consider myself a “latent artist,” having discovered my artistic passion far along this path called life. And connecting this passion with my life in Christ has given me a whole new depth of awe and wonder about God, my Creator and my Savior.

The Church sets aside these forty days of Lent as a time of personal reflection. Exploring the Lenten Season through the art of pysanky has not only stretched me as an artist, it has given me a new appreciation for the history and the practice of Lent as a time of preparation for the Easter celebration of Christ’s Resurrection.

Art & Soul Gallery
OAK HILLS CHURCH
1100 Blue Ravine Road, Folsom, CA
916/983-0181 www.oakhills.org

commit your works...

2009-12-15T18:31:00.000-08:00

This is an assemblage artwork by Terry Flowers titled, "Commit Your Works to the Lord" (I'm pretty sure.) I'm going to ask Terry to comment on this post and tell us more about it.

commissioned visions

2009-10-20T11:34:00.000-07:00

Recently I was asked to do some artwork inspired by the cemetery in Davis, a smaller town west of Sacramento. There was just no way that I could create work that addressed our mortality without addressing what the Bible says about it...

"Renewal"
acrylic image transfer from digital capture in mixed media collage on 16x20" canvas

"Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day." 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

"Breath"
acrylic image transfers from digital capture in mixed media collage on 24x30" canvas

"No wonder my heart is glad, and I rejoice. My body rests in safety. For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your holy one to rot in the grave. You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever." Psalm 16: 9-11

"Each of us is but a breath" Psalm 39:5

new visions

2009-08-14T18:05:00.000-07:00

New versions of some of my original Visions of Heaven work, all three here are black & white photos collaged onto 8x8" canvas with mixed media.

"River of Life"

"My Father's House"

"City of God"

art testimony

2009-08-12T14:58:00.000-07:00

I was asked to share my "art testimony" at an upcoming mini conference on art & faith. To keep myself on track when I speak, I've written up my story, so I figured I'd share it here, too:

made to be an artist

I never really thought of myself as an artist until I was in my thirties. I had been creative, had always enjoyed writing (even got a Journalism degree) had worked in photography & graphic arts, but never had called myself an “Artist.”

I was too busy taking care of two toddlers, dogs, a house and being a wife to really take any time out for creative endeavors. I didn’t even really have the time to think about it until one day my husband came to me and said basically, “What’s the matter with you and why are you being so nasty to live with?” You see, we had been married for nine years before we had any kids, so he knew that something had happened to change my normal disposition. I really didn’t know -

So we sat down and had a long talk and together we figured out that I had no creative outlet, which made me unhappy deep inside and we both agreed right then that I would make an effort to let my creativity out so that I would be a nicer person to live with. I am so thankful God gave me such an insightful husband!

roaring lambs

After couple of years of working as an artist, after I had begun to show in galleries and teach in art education programs I read a book called “Roaring Lambs” by Rob Briner. The subtitle to that book is “A Gentle Plan to Radically Change Your World” and in that book he talked about how there are certain “culture shaping” venues that provide a unique opportunity to spread the gospel and reach out for God. This really hit me in a way that nothing else had and confirmed that God had given me a specific job to do with my artwork, and that I wasn’t just doing creating art to stroke my own ego.

I actually have spent a lot of time going back and forth with God over this whole pride issue. I’m a person who likes attention and I like to be told my work is beautiful and it certainly feeds my ego. But I didn’t want to just be an artist to fulfill my own ego and I wanted to make sure that I was doing what God wanted me to do with my life, not just what I wanted.

40 days of purpose

I had pretty much come to the conclusion that God really did want me to be an artist, to pursue a showing and selling career for his glory, when our church started a program called “The Forty Days of Purpose.” It was amazing, all that I had just wrestled with on my own spiritual path with God, was completely confirmed by studying the Bible and Rick Warren’s “Purpose Driven Life” book. It was like God was giving me a full speed ahead sign and I have never doubted my purpose in life since that point.

café artists

For quite a while during this whole period of time, I began to crave being able to connect with other Christian artists. I always seemed to be the odd duck in my social circles: the only artist with all my Christian friends and the only Christian with all my artist friends. Intellectually I knew there must be other Christian artists, but I felt very alone. Sometimes I would think that “someone” in my church should pull together a group of artists, as it’s so big, I knew there had to be more people even in my own congregation who were artists. Often when I was thinking like this, that still small voice said, “You know who should do that...” but I just wasn’t ready for that yet.

It’s funny, but one day someone in leadership at our church came to me with a request. They had decided that they were going to convert a couple rooms into a café and that they’d like to have rotating artwork from artists in the congregation and would I consider coordinating that? She offered me time to pray about it but I already knew that this was God kicking me in the butt and telling me the time had come to pull together that group of artists. So that’s how Covenant Artists began.

visions of heaven

Covenant Artists just started as a time once a month for artists at our church to get together and share our work and enjoy rubbing shoulders with other odd duck-types. After not too long, though, we decided to do some Bible study together and we had one themed show that we really enjoyed and one thing led to another and God gave me the inspiration for Visions of Heaven. Visions of Heaven was our first community outreach, with a group show at the Artisan Gallery on Del Paso Boulevard which was also the first real gallery show for many of our artists as well. It was a high point for Covenant Artists and I’d like to see our group do something like that again sometime in the not-too-distant future.

a whole city of Christian artists

More recently, God challenged me again, presenting me with the opportunity to have my own commercial studio space in midtown Sacramento. I kept coming up with reasons why I couldn’t do it and He kept opening doors and windows and I finally realized that if I didn’t at least give it a try I would be just an idiot. Before I moved into the space, I really felt the need to do some creative prayer and I ended up driving around and around the block praying that God would use this whole thing the way He wanted to. I knew He had a plan, but I had no idea what it was.

After I moved into that studio, I began to meet more artists that were Christians
who went to other churches in the area and each time it was so cool - I’m losing track of how many Christian artists God has put in my path, including some of my private students - and now I’m just excited to see where He’ll lead me next.

box art gospel

2009-06-29T17:01:00.000-07:00

Covenant Artists have been growing to encompass more of our community and I've been very lax about posting to our blog - we've been meeting in different locations around the Sacramento area, making new friends and seeing more great art inspired by the Spirit.

One of our newly added artist is Terry Ray Flowers, who I met as curator to the Artisan gallery, but who is a gifted self-taught artist in his own right. Terry is driven to share the good news through every piece of art he creates and he has just launched his website to share his work and his passion. Check it out at www.boxartgospel.com.

love wins

2009-04-15T12:59:00.000-07:00

Collage artist Eileen Downes recently posted this piece for Easter with the simple message, "Jesus died and rose again for us." A perfect reflection on how Easter ties in to our hope of heaven - we already know how the story ends.

springs of living water

2009-02-19T09:10:00.000-08:00

I'm trying to find the things in my personal archives that I haven't managed to get to the blog before - like this watercolor by Becky Baker that depicts the river of life. Notice that the living water flows from the heart of God.

In Becky's own words: "Part of growing up I remember the harmonious songs we sang while attending Catholic school in the Long Beach area. One of the songs that stick in my mind is 'Come to the Springs of Living Waters.' It is a beautiful song with harmony that touched my soul to the core. Since then I have searched for this song in the Catholic Hymnals but cannot find it. What a treasure if I can ever find the words to this beautiful song."

planted by the river

2009-01-30T10:56:00.000-08:00

This is my newest mixed media collage (you can click on the image to see it larger) I call it "Trees Along the River" from the text that I added to it from Jeremiah.

"Blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like tree planted along the riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves sty green, and they never stop producing fruit."

You might also notice the sparrow - that little reminder of God's concern.

eye on sparrows

2009-01-28T13:08:00.000-08:00

I've been sketching birds from photos lately; I want to start including some sparrows in my work, in reference to Matthew 10:28-31, where Jesus talks about God taking notice of even little birds, so how much more he has his eye on each of us... It's as much a reminder to myself as anything, to remember that God is in control and he's got a plan for me & my work.

sharing visions

2009-01-06T14:57:00.000-08:00

Today I helped hang some of my original "Visions" with some newer visions at Oak Hills Church in Folsom. I've been planning to write a new artist's statement and this was finally the impetus to do so:

When I first started working as a visual artist, I didn’t sit down and say, “I’m going to try to put the spiritual world into my artwork” or “I think I’ll make the invisible visible” but that is exactly where I have found myself. As I created my art, I was just reacting to what I saw and felt at a particular time and place and it wasn’t until much later and after much reflection that I even had an idea of what it was that I was doing.

For a long time, I thought I was just reacting to nature and my love plants and growing things, then I began to realize that those times outside and alone were the times I felt closest to God, without the distractions of other people, and I was wanting to recreate that feeling through my art. I found myself longing for Eden, for a time to walk in the garden with God, enjoying the earth as it once was and a relationship with each other as it was intended to be; I was saddened that Eden was lost but somehow felt like it wasn’t completely out of reach, that somehow God could make it happen again.

All of this thought process happened over the passage of years, and finally I found myself in a Bible study of heaven when the “aha!” moment happened. All of those years, I had been trying to catch a glimpse of heaven, just getting a tiny taste of the goodness to come, and preserving it in my artwork.

I decided to become more intentional in my work, and then encouraged a group of artists at my church to join me in my quest to share our visions of heaven with others. “Visions of Heaven” originally was a group art project by Covenant Artists based on a Biblical study of Heaven. We wanted it to be God working through us, so our whole process began and ended with prayer and was thoroughly rooted in Scripture. It was a year-long project that culminated in a group showing at our own church as well as at the Artisan Gallery, but it was just a beginning for me.

Now, every piece of artwork I create is an effort to experience and share a little bit of heaven. I believe that one day this poor old planet will be made new again, cleaned up and perfected, and that if we look hard enough, we can see how wonderful it will be. My process for creating art often reflects the dichotomy of the old becoming new again; my black and white negatives are often less than perfect, like this earth right now, then I add to them, using them to make something wonderful and new, rich with color and texture in a way photographs just can’t be when untouched. It’s a little like the way God will take the old earth, and reunite it with paradise, restoring Eden on earth and fulfilling the longing that he’s put in my heart.

covenant artists retreat

2008-10-18T19:57:00.000-07:00

Covenant Artists have been plenty busy, even if I haven't been so much on this blog -

Today we had our first annual retreat, a day at the Empire Mine state historic park in Grass Valley - it was a bit overcast, but a nice day in a beautiful setting.

We started with a devotional about creative prayer - that's the focus of our current study right now. It started with Psalm 19

For the choir director: A psalm of David.
1 The heavens proclaim the glory of God.
The skies display his craftsmanship.
2 Day after day they continue to speak;
night after night they make him known.
3 They speak without a sound or word;
their voice is never heard.*
4 Yet their message has gone throughout the earth,
and their words to all the world.

God has made a home in the heavens for the sun.
5 It bursts forth like a radiant bridegroom after his wedding.
It rejoices like a great athlete eager to run the race.
6 The sun rises at one end of the heavens
and follows its course to the other end.
Nothing can hide from its heat.

7 The instructions of the LORD are perfect,
reviving the soul.
The decrees of the LORD are trustworthy,
making wise the simple.
8 The commandments of the LORD are right,
bringing joy to the heart.
The commands of the LORD are clear,
giving insight for living.
9 Reverence for the LORD is pure,
lasting forever.
The laws of the LORD are true;
each one is fair.
10 They are more desirable than gold,
even the finest gold.
They are sweeter than honey,
even honey dripping from the comb.
11 They are a warning to your servant,
a great reward for those who obey them.

12 How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart?
Cleanse me from these hidden faults.
13 Keep your servant from deliberate sins!
Don't let them control me.
Then I will be free of guilt
and innocent of great sin.

14 May the words of my mouth
and the meditation of my heart
be pleasing to you,
O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.

*19:3 Or There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.

We talked about how God speaks to us creatively through his what he's made for us to see, and how our words and meditations should be creative, to relate to him as he relates to us. And then we talked about reaching other people creatively, based on Matthew 5

Teaching about Salt and Light
13 "You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless.
14 "You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.15 No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house.16 In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.

I think God has given each of us specific ways to shine, and those of us who have been given creative gifts were made to shine creatively...

We wrapped up the devotional with Colossians 4

An Encouragement for Prayer
2 Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart.3 Pray for us, too, that God will give us many opportunities to speak about his mysterious plan concerning Christ. That is why I am here in chains.4 Pray that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should.
5 Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity.6 Let your conversation be gracious and attractive* so that you will have the right response for everyone.

*4:6 Greek and seasoned with salt.

It talks about our mind being alert and active when praying - certainly creativity gets our brain working - and then sharing that creative relationship with others again.

After all that talk, it was time to actually be creative! Becky took these photos of the rest of us getting into our workshop session, where we made rubbings and incorporated them into small accordion books - then we all got so into our creative time that no one thought to take more photos!

Hopefully, I'll get some scans of some of the finished books to post here later -

After the workshop we shared lunch together and then we had a couple hours of personal time to put creative prayer in action - whatever that meant for each of us personally at that time. I think we all spent most of the time in the lawns and gardens.

Finally, we came together to share what we had each learned that was most important to us - a special time & a good way to close the day.

hope

2008-08-18T17:14:00.000-07:00

I just finished a new piece titled "Hope." (You can click on the image to see it bigger.) Sometimes things seem very hard, but if we just look we'll see the hope shining through a situation. Hope is referred to many times in Scripture, and often is a direct reference to the knowledge that we will have eternal life with Christ in heaven - which when we really think about it, can really put things into perspective...

I'm thinking that this will start a new series for me, I really want to look forward a bit more. It's so easy to get caught in what we have to deal with now, and it can be hard to remember the hope we have to look forward to.

(You can see a little more about how this piece came to be on my Wanderings blog.)

more visions in the cafe & upper room

2008-06-06T21:24:00.000-07:00

Hung a new set of work in the Cafe' and in the Upper Room yesterday. This time it's more Visions of Heaven work by Sheila Stockton, Karen Fields and myself. You can see several of Sheila's small bead embroidery works and Karen's watercolor "postcards" in the cafe.
And you can find most of my mixed media photo- graphic works in the Upper Room, also known as Room 211. As usual here, clicking on an image will give you a better view, but I hope you can get down to First Covenant Church to see it for yourself!

gospel train

2008-05-31T21:10:00.000-07:00

Here's another new piece from Ross Conklin, titled "Got Ticket?" done in acrylic paints on canvas. (You can click on the image for a bigger view.) This time Ross takes his inspiration from the old spiritual, The Gospel Train's a Comin' (GT). He also points to Joel 2:32, which says, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." Then in the New Testament to John 10:9, where Jesus says, "I am the gate. Whoever enters through me shall be saved."

Then Ross simply asks, "Got Ticket?"

quiet waters

2008-05-13T14:05:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it has taken me so long to get back to this blog - but back again I am. This is work from another photographer in the group, Heather Montgomery, who joined us as we started our current "Creative Call" study. Heather's goal with her artwork is to capture the beauty she sees and to give glory to the God who created it all.

This black and white photo was inspired by Psalm 23:2,“He leads me beside quiet waters.” Heather says this about the work, "Here we see the beauty of God’s creation. The water is calm and relaxing which allows you to just be at peace and experience the closeness of God. If you just open your eyes, you will see that God’s beauty is all around us."

I think that sums it up pretty well.

solid rock

2008-04-15T10:37:00.000-07:00

I'll be trying to incorporate more artworks from our various artists again - as long as they all keep me supplied with work! Today I'll catch up on a piece that's been hanging in the "Upper Room" at First Covenant, an acrylic painting by Ross Conklin.

This piece is titled "Solid Rock" and serves as an illustration for the common Biblical reference to God as our rock, the one steady constant in our lives. (You can click on the image to enlarge it.)

As Ross puts it, "The constant sea billows roll and pound as the Solid Rock stands fast. The rock represents God's strength as the rock of our salvation stands firm. The surging sea represents the push and pull of this world (the devil) who threatens to tear us down." Ross also shares a list of scriptural reference to God as our rock.

In Deuteronomy 32:4, "He is our rock. His works are perfect." In Second Samuel 22:2, "The Lord is my rock and fortress." King David repeatedly referred to God as his rock in difficult times. In Psalm 18:2, he says, "The Lord is my rock and fortress." Again in Psalm 19:14 he proclaims, "The Lord is my rock and redeemer." And once more in Psalm 61:2 he pleads, "as my heart grows faint; Lead me to the Rock that is higher than I." Isaiah also proclaims, "The Lord is my Rock eternal." (26:4) I'm sure that's not an exhaustive list of references to God as our rock, but I think it gets the message across. Need something solid in your life? God's your guy.

breathing in: finding inspiration

2008-04-10T11:07:00.000-07:00

Our Creative Call study meets this evening; we'll be reviewing Chapter 5, "Breathing In." In this chapter author Janice Elsheimer covers the subject of inspiration and the Holy Spirit as the source of that inspiration.

I wanted to expand on a thought she puts under the heading "The Courage to Create... This week, try to focus on two main ideas:

1. paying attention
2. making time to breathe in the inspiration God offers you"

A good tool to help you get into the paying attention mode is to sit down with an observational checklist, which I use when I teach about art journaling with students. Inside the front or back cover of your sketchbook/journal, write down this list, then refer to it when you feel you must be missing something. Remember to listen as well as to look, sometimes we visual artists can forget to listen...

1. date
2. time
3. location
4. weather - include wind direction, cloud formations, the forecast for the day
5. first impressions
6. ground observations - really get down there & see what there, especially interesting if you're outside
7. eye-level observations - what is there just at your eye level?
8. overhead observations - spend some time looking up, we often ignore what's over our heads
9. whole landscape observations

This is something I do myself as an integral part of my creative process, I find it helps me focus on my work and what I'm seeing. It also gives me something to reflect back on during later parts of the creative process. (I've adapted this list from another great book, "Keeping a Nature Journal.")

Want to read what's on those journal pages? Just click on the image to see it enlarged!

grape vine "tree" updated

2008-04-08T18:34:00.001-07:00

I recently got an email asking about the "vine tree" and I wanted to clarify some things about that, as well as share a "vine tree" image of my own. What I'm referring to isn't actually a tree, but a grape vine, as a botanical possibility of the tree of life.

There's alot more on the whole matter in the context of Jewish culture at Nehi's Tree of Life.

This is a new image of mine, not specifically intended to reflect an aspect of heaven, but does anyway, as my work usually does. Some time ago, I realized that all of my work illustrates my longing to be in perfect communion with God, like Adam and Eve had in the garden.

Sometimes when I'm working, especially shooting out in some quiet place all alone, I can almost be in that state, but it can be a hard thing for us to do now when we're on this currently imperfect earth. That's when I long for heaven to be brought down and the earth remade into something the same but more wonderful - and that's what always seems to come through in my work - at least when I've done it right...

creative journaling

2008-03-17T12:48:00.003-07:00

Last week we had another Creative Call journaling exercise - this time a collage prayer. We found words and images in magazines, then collaged them together in our journals as a prayer, asking God for the things we need, thanking him for what he's given us, whatever we needed to talk to him about. We didn't worry about whether it made sense to anyone else, because we know that God knows. I'm sharing my collage prayer here, so that you can get the idea and try one of your own - a nice way to journal, I think.

To see this image larger, just click on it, then click your back button to get back to this post - As for what some of this means, the big frame is around the whole thing; I want my life to be God's work of art, so I'm framing this prayer to express that. The word nature and natural images are references to the inspiration I have for much of my work, which I am so thankful for. I need from God his guidance daily for my own artistic growth which is so rewarding to me - and I always want to be sending God's message of love. Down below is the word studio - I'll be renting new studio space soon, which God will have to bless financially or I won't be able to do it very long, so that's a big request right now.

All these things were on my collage but it was missing something, and I didn't know what, so I was looking through one of my art magazines and found the quote, "You've got to touch people. That's why you create art." That pretty much sums it all up. Amen

more heaven showing

2008-03-11T09:58:00.000-07:00

Since many of the artworks that were shown at the Artisan Gallery were never shown at First Cov, we decided to have a reprise of the Heaven Show in the Upper Room and the Cafe - in stages. Currently showing are works by Ross Conklin (work in first photo), Jared Konopitski (work in next photo), David Kiesewetter and Vincent Dixon. Apparently my brain was out to lunch when I took photos Sunday morning - I'll have to take more to showcase Dave & Vincent's work!
At least I managed to capture a nice still life in the Cafe'...

cov arts workshop goes to high school

2008-03-08T12:02:00.001-08:00

This week I had the pleasure of bringing a Cov Artist's journal-making work-shop to a group of high school girls - whether they knew it or not - a good time was had by all...

creative journal help

2008-03-04T10:29:00.000-08:00

Since we are currently working our way as a group through The Creative Call by Janice Elsheimer, I thought I would use this blog as a tool to help out. As a visual artist going through this book for the third time, I was struck at how writer-oriented her exercises are, which is a good way to get some creative juices flowing, but I know so many visual artists who are put off or freaked out by writing that this gets in the way of the study.

So now that we're in Chapter 3, I'll start adding my own suggestions as to how to work out these exercises. Specifically, for Exercise 1: Visions and Longings, Janice asks us to remember the things we loved to do as a child and list as many of these things as we can in five minutes - finding our way back to our inner child, as it were. I'd challenge you to go a step further and then create a collage from magazine images, or to sketch out images, find old photos, whatever, that takes you back to these same activities.

One of my all time favorite things is time at the beach, sitting and playing in the sand as a child, making roads and castles, finding seashell treasures, running in the waves. And then later photographing at the beach, including my own children engaging in these very same activities.

Make this your creative journaling time today - and just try to keep it to only twenty minutes... ;)

more mustard seed-tree

2008-02-06T17:54:00.000-08:00

I got an email with links to more information on the mustard tree/seed parable that Jesus told about heaven and that I used as a jumping board for a piece of work. First link is a photo of an actual mustard tree, which I couldn't find in my own research, but was sent to me by Thomas Brass - thanks! Second is a study of the parable of the mustard seed, by Ken Anderson. I still like the interpretation I first found - guess we can all talk it over with Jesus when we get there!

journal making workshop

2008-02-01T14:47:00.000-08:00

One of the things I've been wanting to do as a part of Covenant Artists is to hold art workshops, for artists of all levels, including those who don't really consider themselves artists but might like to try out something creative.

We had our first journal making workshop at the church a couple weeks ago but I forgot to take photos or make mention of it. Last night, though, we had a make up session in my home studio, so remembering my camera wasn't an issue and with my studio in amazing order, I was prompted to record the event on film. If you look carefully, you can see that there's nothing under my worktable in these photos - for those who have seen it under normal circumstance, you know under my work table is a whole lot of storage bins - which were set in other parts of the studio for the night.

So here's the three book makers, Dave and Pam Kiesewetter and Karen Fields, putting the finishing touches on their journals. You can see my finished samples on the table in the foreground.

Pam is concen- trating on getting beads strung onto the threads that she sewed the binding of her journal with. We all had a great time making the project and just hanging out together. I actually enjoyed having it in my studio, and I might host small workshops there again...

Grape Vine Tree

2008-01-30T15:46:00.001-08:00

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.

mustard tree complete

2008-01-24T14:45:00.000-08:00

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.

back again!

2008-01-22T14:02:00.000-08:00

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.

heavenly home

2007-12-12T17:47:00.000-08:00

I'm going to do some catching up now, starting with a little surprise that came in at the last moment. Sandy Wenell Thornton is an excellent watercolorist who started the study of heaven with us in January, then had one family issue after another come up to interrupt her. I knew it had been quite a traumatic year for her and I figured that she had probabaly been a little too overwhelmed with life to take part in the final showing. But then she absolutely stunned me with this mixed media piece titled, "Home is a Place We've Never Been Before."

Her inspiration for the piece came from John 14:2-3: "In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there you may be also."

When dealing with the subject of losing someone near to us to death, Randy Alcorn writes, "At the same moment that they are overwhelmed with grief over what has happened to their loved one, the one they mourn is overcome with joy. For they are home at last. Home for the very first time." (This is from his book, In Light of Eternity, which we used for our study of heaven.) I think that Sandy might be drawing from some very personal experiences here, where we see an older woman opening a door to the home that Jesus has prepared for her, finally coming home.

For believers that mourn the loss of another believer we love, it can truly be a comfort to know that not only are they home, but someday we can be home with them again.

heaven's open!

2007-12-10T12:08:00.000-08:00

So I was too busy getting ready for the opening of Visions of Heaven at the Artisan Gallery to get around to updating this blog last week, but I'll make up for it by posting photos from Saturday night and then I'll catch up with more art that is up on those walls right now. Remember that if you want to see any of these images larger, just click on it.

This shot shows the back end of the gallery, you can see one of Dave Kiesewetter's pieces, several of Ross Conklin's and Vincent Dixon's painting on the curvy wall. My sculptural work is on the pedastal.

Another view of the gallery shows Sandy Thornton's painting next to several of Karen Fields' small works - and the door leading into Cafe' Refugio.

Looking back toward the front of the gallery you can see Eileen Downes' pieces, large and small, and another of Ross Conklin's paintings.

And here's the front door of the gallery, Ross has another painting here, and you can see a grouping of my photographic works here as well.

Farther along that same wall, are a few more of my photographic works, and a couple artists waiting for their throngs of visitors. During the reception, I made an effort to capture each of the showing artists by their work:

Dave and Pam Kiesewetter

Eileen Downes

Jared Konopitski

Karen Fields

Ross Conklin

Sandy Wenell Thornton

Sheila Stockton

Vincent Dixon

Our cool live music, Karmada

Judith and Scott Monroe

"little doodle" from jared

2007-11-29T14:53:00.000-08:00

Though Jared has been done with this for some time, I am just now getting this posted. Jared's personal vision of heaven no doubt varies from what many would consider traditional, but it is always thought provoking and interesting work. This particular colored pencil work requires more than a cursory glance to take it in, since our eye is not drawn to what is most important in the piece, but that is entirely appropriate in this particular case.

The scripture that inspired Jared to create this is 1 Corinthians 15:25-26. "For Christ must reign until he humbles all his enemies beneath his feet. And the last enemy to be destroyed is death." Jared simply says, "This little doodle illustrates Christ humbling an enemy beneath His feet." What draws the eye in this work is what draws our eyes in this world most naturally as well, the enemies of Christ. Whether it's tempting lusts or frightening problems, our eyes so often are drawn away from the One who will crush it all beneath his feet, by the power of his death on the cross, which Jared illustrates in this work. Only by conscious effort do we see the naked foot in the pool of his own blood, the only way we will be admitted to heaven where Christ will eternally reign.

heaven is filled with trees

2007-11-27T15:15:00.000-08:00

As the gallery show draws near, much is coming together, and there seems to be trees sprouting up everywhere. I have a couple of my own to share later, but today it's another tree of life from bead artist Sheila Stockton (hi Mom!) This is her "Tree of Life #5" which is depicted this time as a cherry tree. Once again, her inspiration for the series is Revelation 22:2, this time in the Contemporary English Version, "On each side of the river are trees that grow a different kind of fruit each month of the year. The fruit gives life, and the leaves are used as medicine to heal the nations."

peeking through heaven's door

2007-11-26T19:41:00.000-08:00

Today we'll take another look at the doorway to heaven, this time through the eyes of Eileen Downes, who uses peices of paper to 'paint' with -

I have always been fascinated by doors, windows, portals, passageways and their symbolic meaning. I have saved such imagery for many years - photos from vacations, magazines, family member’s trips, my own illustrations etc... anything about doors really. I have used some of these fragments in the previous collages by layering them over each other, often intertwining them, into an artistic arrangement. Glimpses and views of wonderfully beautiful places symbolic of heaven can be seen though the doorways and windows. These pieces are complete art pieces in their own right, but they are also preparatory illustrations to the larger piece that I recently completed.

This large piece incorporates a real antique door that the viewer must actually open to reveal the imagery behind. This interactive art piece asks the viewer to make a motion, a decision to open, just like we are asked to make a motion to accept Christ as our Savior.

Doors and windows are symbolic imagery that I use in these pieces to convey the essence of heaven. We can pass though these portals of life like we pass from this world into our eternal life in heaven. The Bible references doors in several verses. For example:

Psalm 78:23 "Yet he gave a command to the skies above and opened the doors of the heavens."

Revelation 4:1 "After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, 'Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.'"

Genesis 28:17 "He was afraid and said, 'How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.'"

Although the following verse does not specifically mention “doors” it does so indirectly by indicating that there are many rooms in heaven: John 14:2 "In my Fathers house are many rooms; and if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you."

- Eileen Downes

doorway to heaven

2007-11-21T16:22:00.000-08:00

Today we have a contribution from an artist you haven't heard from before, David Kiesewetter. Dave is still experimenting with different media, trying to find one that really suits him, as many of us do before we settle into one or two primary media. (Unless we just decide to mix them all up!) This piece is a wonderful pen and ink drawing, part of Dave's process for a larger work, but strong enough to stand on it's own as well.

Dave's inspiration for this piece, comes from Revelation 4:1, "After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, 'Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.'"

Here we see the door open to show a glimpse into heaven beyond, including some of the twenty-four elders sitting around the central throne of God, referred to in Revelation 4:4. In the foreground, you can see the water of the river of life, that flows out from the throne of God, as found in Revelation 22:1.

As we prepare for Thanksgiving tomorrow, I thank God that he is preparing this wonderful place to share with us. Blessings to all.

process and the river of life

2007-11-13T16:41:00.000-08:00

Today I'm going to take you through the process for one of my mixed media photographs, "River of Life." I'll actually show you the step by step process I've gone through in my artist's journal I've been keeping just for this project.

The first step was reading through the book "In Light of Eternity" by Randy Alcorn and looking up all the scriptural references that he cites in his book. This has been the basis for all of the artwork done by all of the artists over the course of this past year. There were actually a couple of pieces of scripture that inspired this particular piece. First, in Revelation 22:1, it says, "Then the angel showed me a river with the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb."

One of the first things this scripture does is make me think of what river images I might already have, like this photo taken for no particular reason at the time but has been patiently waiting for me to print it. I made a digital copy to color and put in my journal, waiting for the next piece of the work to come together. You can see I also doodled some palm trees onto it, to see how I'd like to work in the palm tree element that I want to keep as a theme in this project.

Another verse helped influence this piece, Genesis 2:10-14, "A river watered the garden and then flowed out of Eden and divided into four branches. The first branch, called the Pishon, flowed around the entire land of Havilah, where gold is found... The second branch, called the Gihon, flowed around the entire land of Cush. The third branch, called the Tigris, flowed east of the land of Asshur. The fourth branch is called the Euphrates." I really like the link between maps of a place and the image of the place, and I've used maps for overlays before this project, so it wasn't a great stretch for me to think of a map of Eden's rivers to connect the River of Life in Heaven and the river that fed the whole earth from Eden, possibly even the same river? The thought intrigues me that there is a close link between Eden, referred to as Paradise in the Bible, and Heaven, also referred to as Paradise...

In my journal, I can overlap the photographic image and the map, to work out how the two will fit together in the darkroom, change it if I want to, mull it over, move it, or change it completely.

This is the black and white contact print, with the map and a single palm tree as an overlay. When you look at this image and the next one, you can see that the overlay can move around, making no two in the series exactly alike.

Finally, I use watercolors, then dry colored pencils to add the final dimension of color to the piece. In this case, I decided to make the sky yellow in a reference to God's light in Heaven, eliminating the need for the sun or moon, but not necessarily eliminating the sun & the moon themselves, as found in Revelation 22:5. "And there will be no night there - no need for lamps or sun - for the Lord God will shine on them."

So that takes you from beginning to end in the process. By the way, the first entry for this in my journal is dated February 2007, and I just finished it November 2007: about nine months, so I guess it's appropriate for me to think of the finished piece as one of my babies.

heaven opened

2007-11-09T15:15:00.001-08:00

Today I have another image from Jared Konopitski, our colored pencil stylist, with an awe inspired piece from Revelation 19:11-16: "Then I saw heaven opened, and a white horse was standing there. And the one sitting on the horse was named Faithful and True. For he judges fairly and then goes to war. His eyes were bright flames of fire, and on his head were many crowns. A name was written on him, and only he knew what it meant. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and his title was the Word of God. The armies of heaven followed him on white horses. From his mouth came a sharp sword, and with it he struck down the nations. He ruled them with an iron rod, and he trod the winepress of the fierce wrath of the almighty God. On his robe and thigh was written this title: King of kings and Lord of lords."

Jared has called this "My simplistic drawing of such a complicated image," but I would say he has distilled the image to something that we can grasp, and that he has done it very well. When I start to look at the image and read the passage, I see many things that I wouldn't grasp in the reading alone. I'm afraid that I'm such a visually oriented person, that it would take many careful readings for me to "see" the image in my head, yet Jared gives me the whole picture at once. It's not so simple that it doesn't takes time for me to grasp the whole picture, but it begins to help bring the scripture to life for me.

At first I felt that the relaxed pose of the rider and horse was incongrous to the sword and flame features of Christ, but it helped remind me this is the same Christ who humbly rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, then gave his life for us to share in his glory. And that is what heaven being opened to us is all about...

tree of life #4

2007-11-07T16:31:00.001-08:00

Today we're bringing you the next piece in Sheila Stockton's beaded embroidery series, "Tree of Life #4." Her scriptural inspiration comes from Revelation 22:2, "Through the middle of the broadway of the city; also, on either side of the river was the tree of life with its twelve varieties of fruit, yielding each month its fresh crop; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing and the restoration of the nations." (Amplified) You can see that this time she chose to depict an apple tree, which has so often been how the tree of life in the garden of Eden has been depicted in western tradition.

If you would like to see the rest of her series, you can click on "Sheila Stockton" at the bottom of this post. You'll get a new page with all the posts that have that label on them, which will be all of her series for this project. Also remember that to see most images in this blog larger, just click on the image itself.

river of healing revisted

2007-11-05T17:18:00.000-08:00

This is a pair of images I first showed some time ago as they appear in my journal, and now they're finally finished. They form a diptych, or two images that are considered one piece, and they actually have elements that run from one image to the next.

They were inspired by Ezekiel 47:7 & 9, "When I returned, I was surprised by the sight of many trees growing on both sides of the river... There will be swarms of living things wherever the water of this river flows... Life will flourish wherever this water flows." All this from a vision Ezekiel was having of heaven. Of course, we are also told about the river of life in heaven in Revelation 22:2, "It flowed down the center of the main street. On each side of the river grew a tree of life... the leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations." So the vision of John is different but certainly has commonalities with Ezekiel's vision.

The overlay images I used for this piece are actually maps of the rivers that flowed around Eden, or at least an interpretation of where they could have been, since Eden's exact location was lost to us when Adam & Eve sinned. It's thrilling to think that Paradise lost will become Paradise restored when Heaven is at last brought down to earth, which is what the maps signify in this piece.

I've continued that concept in the next piece I've finished, which I'll try to post tomorrow.

a warning & reminder

2007-10-30T15:21:00.000-07:00

"You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz and emerald, chrysolite, onyx and jasper, sapphire, turquiose and beryl. Your setting and mounting were made of gold; on the day you were created they were prepared. You were annointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created fill wickedness was found in you. Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, I expelled you, O guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones. Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth; I made you a spectacle of you before kings." Ezekiel 28: 14-16

This is the scene, set in Eden and heaven, that describes Satan being thrown out of heaven, giving us some background and understanding for Jared Konopitski's piece, "The Devil's Trickery", inspired by 2 Corinthians 11:14, which says, "Even Satan can disguise himself as an 'angel of light.'"

While this piece isn't strictly a vision of heaven, it certainly peeks into the workings of heaven and the invisible spiritual realm. Jared describes this colored pencil work as "more of warning and a reminder. Sometimes what seems like heaven may just be a devilish trick." Jared also reminds us to make sure things agree with scripture before taking it as heaven sent. While the message could be sent harshly, Jared's style softens the blow and makes this an approachable subject - even allowing us to laugh a little - yet maintains a somewhat sinister edge in his depiction of Satan.

Wait until you see what he has up his sleeve next - I mean Jared, not Satan -

more trees

2007-10-26T10:03:00.000-07:00

Today we go back to trees - another tree of life in bead embroidery by Sheila Stockton - and watching how a beaded tree grows from the seeds of inspiration to the full growth of a finished product. The first part of inspiration comes from scripture, in this case, Sheila says, "since olive trees are such long living trees:"

They’ll build houses
and move in.
They’ll plant fields
and eat what they grow.
No more building a house
that some outsider takes over,
No more planting fields
that some enemy confiscates,
For my people will be as long-lived as trees,
my chosen ones will have satisfaction in their work.
Isaiah 65:16-17* (The Message)

Here you can see the seed growing into a colored pencil sketch in Sheila's journal and below it in the body of text is another scriptural reference to the tree of life in Revelation 22:2, "On each side of the river grew the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit with a fresh crop each month." Some translations specify that each fruit is a different kind of fruit, and this reference to twelve kinds of fruit is part of what has inspired Sheila to render the tree of life as different fruit bearing trees. We'll wait to see if she gets to twelve...

At this stage, you can see the pencil sketch on the cloth (including some color reference) and the embroidery in progress. We happened to catch it at a point where she had just finished a length of thread and had tied it off in the back, otherwise, you might see the very fine needle that she works with.

And finally the finished piece - I think this whole process took her about week, not counting the conceptual process and the many hours of searching for just the right beads for the work.

*On a scriptural note, the verse she chose to accompany this piece, is from a section of Isaiah specifically referring to the New Earth, when Jesus will be back on earth with his people, bringing Heaven down and restoring God's relationship to humankind.

contrasting heaven & earth

2007-10-25T16:27:00.000-07:00

Today we've got another piece from Jared Konopitski, whose visions are unlike any others. This image is called "Out of Tears" and is in Jared's signature colored pencil style, digitally enlarged to poster size creations.

His inspiration for this image comes from Luke 6:21, where Jesus said those on earth will laugh in heaven, as well as from Mathew 18:3, where He said, "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."

Jared describes the piece as illustrating "a child being birthed into heaven out of a world of tears." He made the contrast of laughing in heaven to crying (tears) on earth; much like some passages of scripture do (though I can't at the moment remember where.) We all can acknowledge that life on earth in the here and now can be a very painful experience and this work is a reminder that all of that pain will no longer exist when we live in the presence of God. Praise Him for that!

trees of life

2007-10-23T15:54:00.000-07:00

Many of you are aware of my own personal facination with trees, and the tree of life has to be one of the most facinating concepts for me personally, but it has also been the subject of many artists and iconographers quite literally over the millenia.

In our western society, the tree of life is an apple tree; I've never researched why that happens to be (maybe I should) but I have researched some of the Hebrew tradtitions and found that some hold the tree of life as a date palm, an olive tree, a fig tree, or even a grape vine. For an artist deciding to depict this most heavenly of trees, the options are wide open.

One artist embarking on this journey is Sheila Stockton (many of you also know her as my mother) who is using bead embroidery as her media of choice for this journey.

This is her second finished work, titled "Tree of Life #2: Date Palm." Her scriptural reference for this piece is "Blessed are those who wash their robes. They will be permitted to enter through the gates of the city and eat the fruit from the tree of life." (Revelation 22:14 NLT) You can see the river of life in this image, and the date palm tree of life growing along both sides of the river.

The detail work in these tiny artistic jewels is pretty impressive. (You can click on the image itself to get a closer view of those details.) We'll share a little more of the process that goes into those details in another post very soon...

And just so you know how these things work, if you'd like to see more artwork that relates to the work in this posting, just click on one of the labels at the bottom of the post and see what happens!

time for refreshments!

2007-10-20T17:42:00.000-07:00

And finally, the notes for my last New Jerusalm Palms image, "Times of Refreshment." This inspiration for this piece comes from Acts 3:20-21. "Then times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord, and he will again send you Jesus, your appointed Messiah. For he must remain in heaven until the time for the final restoration of all things, as God promised long ago through his holy prophets."

Here's the whole page with overlays in my journal - you can see the scriptural reference noted to the right -

Here's the map overlay by itself, again a map of ancient Jerusalem. I really like the idea of the old Jerusalm connecting with the New Jerusalem, illustrating God's timelessness in his city.

And finally the palm image by itself. Of course, I ended up painting them somewhat differently, but that just shows that the creative process can take twists & turns...

heaven in the studio

2007-10-18T12:08:00.000-07:00

This is actually my entry for today on my personal art blog, which you can find at www.judithmonroe.com/journal.html, but it's about my work for this heaven project, so I figured I'd just post it here, too:

More studio work today - and last night -

Wet watercolors on the New Jerusalem Palms mini series (and here you thought that was only on tv.)

This morning, I was working on two things at once - actually alternately, but saying at once is more impressive - in the foreground you can see the new Polaroid transfer wall art plaques I'm working on for a couple venues and back on my drawing table I'm doing the pencil work on the New Jerusalem Palms quartet.

By noon I've already finished the New Jerualem Palms, so I'll share...

My Father's House 1/5

Heavenly Homeland 1/5

City of God 1/5

Times of Refreshment 1/5

dad's house

2007-10-16T17:27:00.000-07:00

I spent a couple hours in the darkroom today, printing what I'm now calling my New Jerusalem Palms series. I've shared my journal pages of two of the four pieces already, so I'll share another today, then the uncolored prints (which are drying right now) and finally the finished pieces.

This is the page complete with overlay and miscellaneous notes. The Scripture I'm basing this image on is John 14:1-3, "Don't let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father's home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am."

My first thought coming from this verse was of a long driveway lined with palms leading to a grand house, like can be found here in the Central Valley. Actually finding what I had in my head proved to be a challenge, and in looking for palms for other images in this series, I found my rows of palms and then thought I could overlay a small image of a home, or an architectural sketch but then realized I already had found an image of a mosaic map of ancient Jerusalem which portrayed buildings, bringing to my mind the idea of a home with many rooms, almost like a city...

So I created an overlay based on the mosaic to use with the palm trees and also create another visual reference to Jerusalem. Of course, the images never work out quite the same in the darkroom as they do in my journal. In this case, the image of the palms was too busy when the overlay was completely over it, but I like the effect on the wide black border around the image, so I cut a hole in the overlay to allow the palms to come through more readable.

It's really exciting for me to have all the pieces come together after messing around with them. This whole conceptual process is new to me, but I'm finding it rewarding in a whole new way.

jottings by jared

2007-10-10T18:23:00.000-07:00

Jared Konopitski & I got to catch up on stuff on Sunday at which time I mentioned to him that I didn't have a lot of work from him for this blog, even though I KNEW he had been very creative. So also being a very responsible young man, Jared has sent me a couple more images to post. Both pieces are done in Jared's typical colored pencil cartoon-illustrative style which so many of us thoroughly enjoy.

This first image was inspired by Isaiah 9:5 "In that day of peace, battle gear will no longer be issued. Never again will uniforms be bloodstained by war. All such equipment will be burned."

In Jared's words, "The soldier is burning his uniform for he no longer has a need for it. In the same effect the tank in the back is burning to the ground and the sky is glowing from the fire as all the ingredients of war are burned in this time peace."

This second piece comes from Revelation 20:11. "And I saw a great white throne, and I saw the one who was sitting on it. The earth and sky fled from his presence, but they found no place to hide."

Jared says "In this image I placed a white throne right in the middle of a satellite-esque photo of the earth. The image of earth is swirling and twisting to hide from the throne but it has no where to go, limited to its own borders."

Jared is certainly not limiting himself as he continues with his artistic visions of heaven. I'm eager to see what else he has in store for us.

heavenly homeland

2007-10-08T11:58:00.000-07:00

Today I'll take you back to my personal journal work for this show, and the palm theme I've presented before. First, here is the layered image, as seen in my journal:

You can faintly see the map & then the image of palm trees underneath it. Also the last part of the scriptural reference, Hebrews 11: 13-16. "All these people died still believing what God has promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth. Obviously people who say such things are looking forward to a country they can call their own. If they had longed for the country they came from, they could have gone back. But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them."

The people referred to in this passage were many of the faithful from the Old Testament, including Noah, Abraham, and then Moses, Rahab, David and many others. The map overlay I used for this came from a map of Jerusalem in 1947.

I did this to tie together the homeland of the ancient Jews, the modern land and then the future homeland referred to in the scripture. There are many references in the Old Testament to the land of Israel being God's permanent home. Leviticus 26:11 & 12 says, "I will live among you, and I will not despise you. I will walk among you; I will be your God, and you will be my people." And in Zechariah 2:10, "The Lord says, 'Shout and rejoice, O beautiful Jerusalem, for I am coming to live among you.'" The concept is a recurring theme among many of the minor prophets.

Finally, I place this all over one of my images of palm trees.

Palm trees can be a symbol for Israel itself, for the tree of life, and they also decorate the true temple, as I've noted before - check out Ezekiel 40 & 41 for yourself.

carry me home!

2007-10-03T13:34:00.000-07:00

Another one of the pieces in the cafe' preview show that hadn't before made it to this blog is one of Ross Conklin's newest acrylic paintings, “Sweet Chariot (Free Pickup and Delivery.)"

Ross says "This is taken from the grand old Negro spiritual, Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, comin’ for to carry me home." He sites 2 Kings 2:11 as a Biblical reference:

“As they (Elisha and Elijah) were crossing the Jordan River, Elijah said, ‘tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?’

‘Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit’, Elisha replied.

‘You have asked a difficult thing,’ Elijah said, ‘yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours, otherwise not.’

As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind... and Elisha saw him no more.”

You can clearly see how Ross has illustrated this passage of 2 Kings, as well as Psalms 68: 16-17, “Why gaze in envy, oh rugged mountains, at the mountain where God chooses to reign, where the Lord himself will dwell forever? The chariots of God are tens of thousands and thousands of thousands.” He is so overwhelmed by this thought that he says, "You do the math!"

Ross also refers to praises in Psalms that helped inspire this piece. Including Psalms 104, which says, “Oh Lord my God, you are very great; you are clothed with splendor and majesty. He wraps himself in light as with a garment. He stretches out the heavens like a tent and lays the beams of his upper chambers on the waters. He makes the clouds his chariots and rides on the wings of the wind. He makes winds his messengers, flames of fire his servants.” And finally, Psalms 102: 20-22 , “Praise the Lord, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word. Praise the Lord all his works everywhere in his dominion. Praise the Lord, oh my soul.”

Praise the Lord, indeed.

up close & personal

2007-09-25T17:14:00.001-07:00

So now that I've teased you with the big picture, so to speak, I'll fill in a couple details. Here are a couple smaller images that you can see framed on the wall in the first photo on the previous post, but that you can't really SEE. I happened to have good scans from a couple of the works that are up but haven't been shared on the blog yet, so I guess it's time to share. Remember that you should be able to see a larger image by clicking on the ones below.

From left to right on the big wall, the pair of works stacked on top of each other are from Karen Fields, works in watercolor & mixed media. This first piece is "Postcard #1, Heaven's Lamb" and it illustrates Revelations 5:11, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and strength and honor and glory and praise."

Her next piece is titled,
"Postcard #2, Understanding" and juxtaposes the cross and a sense of mourning with 1 Corinthians 2:9, "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him." This piece reflects the bittersweet reality that Christ suffered and died to give us the chance to share an eternity of amazing joy with him.

And way over on the far right hand end of the wall is a tiny gem by Sheila Stockton. This is the first of her "Trees of Life" series in bead embroidery titled, "The Tree of Life #1." She refers to Revelation 22:2, which says, “The Tree of Life was planted on each side of the River, producing twelve kinds of fruit, a ripe fruit each month.” Here you can see all the detail work, including some of the beads we shared with you in an earlier post.

hanging in the cafe'

2007-09-24T15:52:00.000-07:00

So we've got the preview show hanging at the First Covenant Cafe' & I took a couple snaps to show...

This is the main display wall in the cafe, where you can see work from me, (Judith Monroe,) Karen Fields, Eileen Downes, Bill Kuyper, Ross Conklin & Sheila Stockton. To get a better view of it all, come on down! (You can also see a larger photo by clicking on this small one.)

This is Becky Baker's mixed media diptych tucked into it's own special spot, on the north wall.

Here's a close up of one of Jared Konopitski's and another one of Ross Conklin's pieces. I love how the color schemes pull together works of such different styles. I'm usually in the cafe' on Sunday mornings at 9:30 a.m., (except weekends I'm working, like this coming weekend) so if you show up there & look for the short brunette that's studying or drawing at one of the tall tables, that's probably me... come over and say "hi!"

road to heaven?

2007-09-19T15:49:00.001-07:00

Ross Conklin is consistently stretching himself for this project, and the results are always impressive. Today's work from Ross is a colored pencil drawing titled, "The Road of Life."

For this piece, Ross refers to Matthew 7:13-14, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that lead to destruction and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow is the road that lead to life and only a few find it.” You can see all of these things in his modern illustrationof this scripture, including the road to hell that is paved with good intentions.

To underscore that it is each individual's choice, Ross points to Joshua 24:15: “But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourself this day whom you will serve. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” He reminds viewers that "we have only one life to live on earth, so be alert!" Finally, Ross underscores the concept of the road to hell that is paved with good intentions instead of accepting Christ with Proverbs 14:12: “There is a way that seems right to a man but in the end it leads to death.”

a vision from Ross Conklin

2007-09-10T09:29:00.000-07:00

At long last, I am sharing more work from painter Ross Conklin, who has been continuously producing work for this show, stretching himself in ways I don't think he has done before. I'm so impressed with this body of work, and I'm pleased to present his next acrylic piece, titled "Beyond the Pearly Gates."

This piece was inspired in part when a family friend sort of jokingly suggested to Ross, “What about the pearly gates?” This actually got him thinking about what the view through the gates might look like. Ross says, "The Bible refers to the pearly gates as being made of one pearl, but I could not understand how to paint one large pearl so I broke it down into segmented stones."

Looking through the pearly gates, Ross shows what is described in Revelation 22: 1-5: "Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb, down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever."

In the painting, we can see the River of Life, which is flowing from the throne of God. The throne of God is depicted by the penetrating bright sun showing through the branches of the tree, and is referred to in verses one and later in verse five. In verse two, the Tree of Life stands on each side of the River of Life, which Ross illustrates by spreading its roots on both sides, then shows it giving fruit, as it will in each month. Ross's stylized approach to this piece gives the image impact and helps us to see what another glimpse into heaven.

final book installment

2007-09-07T13:49:00.001-07:00

Finally, I'll share a couple more images from my "Visions of Heaven" altered book. This first image shows another Polaroid transfer image of an almond orchard here in Northern California. I happen to love almonds & my family owned an almond ranch once upon a time, so it sort of speaks a bit of the concept of home for me as well. I used it to illustrate the verse, "Fruit trees of all kinds will grow along both sides of the river, the leaves of these trees will never turn brown and fall, and there will always be fruit on their branches." (Revelation 22:12) The river mentioned is the River of Life, also referred to in my final inscription, opposite the "hole" in my altered book.

When the flaps covering the final recessed section of the book are opened, it reveals a triptych of hand colored Polaroid transfers of a river scene. The scripture across the page comes from Ezekiel 47, verses 7 and 9, "I was surprised by the sight of many trees growing on both sides of the river... There will be swarms of living things wherever the water of this river flows... life will flourish wherever this water flows." Which explains the fruit trees always fruiting...

a real home

2007-08-27T19:48:00.000-07:00

The next page I'll share with you from my altered book, "Visions of Heaven," has another Polaroid transfer on it, accompanied by Colossians 3:1. "Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God's right hand." This speaks volumes, first of all, that heaven is a reality, and that it is something that we should be looking forward to. I especially like this New Living Translation, which I think emphasizes the tangible qualities of heaven, mush more than a purely spiritual realm.

One of following pages in this altered book, emphasizes a different aspect of heaven, spelled out in the selected letters of the text, h-0-m-e, and illustrated with a Polaroid transfer and my ubiquitous palm motif. The preceding page has a quote from Jesus on it, "Don't let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father's home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am." (John 14:1-3) While Jesus does not use the word heaven, by calling it his "Father's home" he is giving the very definition on heaven, that is, God's dwelling place. Wherever God is, that is heaven, and Christ is making the place ready for us - we should get ourselves ready, too!

more book visions

2007-08-22T13:50:00.000-07:00

And so I return to this blog, after a week of computer problems... ;)

Here's another page in my altered book, "Visions of Heaven." I'm not revealing every page in this book, partly because it would be so tedious, and also to provide some little surprises for those who come to the actual show to see it. You'll notice I've again employed my palm tree motif on this page, it's a recurring theme throughout and you can find other posts that talk more about that by clicking on the tag at the end of this post. The image itself in an orignial Polaroid transfer, hand colored with pencils. On the facing page I put this verse: "The creation looks forward to the day when it will join God's children in glorious freedom from death and decay... We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us." (Romans 8:19-24) I find this whole concept of creation's redemption utterly amazing. We are so connected with the earth that it suffered the curse with us, which is found in Genesis 3, and then is redeemed with us as well, which is shown in Revelation 21.

You can see this theme continued on the next page of my book, where I have revealed a sort of hidden code in the book's original text. Of course, I could have chosen to say most anything in this hidden code, but that is the beauty of this device. I first adopt the initial sentence of the page, as it was quite apt for me, "I began asking questions." Which is the beginning of any learning, and then reveal the letters r-e-d-e-m-t-i-o-n, then the word "of" and "the world." Finally I ask the reader of my book to "break free of the expectations" that they might come to the piece with. That is all any artist can ask, that a viewer be open to the message an artist is trying to convey.

visions in a book

2007-08-14T16:53:00.000-07:00

This is one of the pages from my "Visions of Heaven" altered book. The image is a refelction of the heavens over our head, in a reference to the idea that we can only "see" heaven as though in a poor reflection, found at the end of 1 Corinithians 13 and then is paired with a verse, Isaiah 65:17, "Look! I am creating a new heavens and a new earth, and no one will even think about the old ones anymore." In this verse, God is telling us that he will make heaven and earth new again.

On this next page, I again use a verse that refers to the new heavens and new earth, but this time from the New Testament. "We are looking forward to the new heaven and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God's righteousness." 2 Peter 3:13 This verse also refers back to the promises of a new earth made in Isaiah. The image I used, like all of the images in this book, is a Polaroid transfer, which comes from a color slide, but results in a stylized vision of what was photographed. In the same way, the new earth we are promised will be recognizable as our earth, but a new a wonderful vision of what it is now.

back to visions

2007-08-10T17:47:00.000-07:00

Nearly a month has passed since I've posted here, but that's not to say that work hasn't been getting done... I have been pretty busy on a particular piece that I'll share bit by bit, an altered book titled, "Visions of Heaven." For those unfamiliar with the medium, an altered book is literally a standard published book that has been altered, or changed, into a work of art. Altered books can be written and drawn in, painted, collaged, even cut and glued to express the artist's intent. It's a medium I don't emply often, but it works well with photography, as I can incorporate my images into the book form - something many photographic artists do.

The first detail of the book that I'm sharing is the palm trees that I've added to most pages of the book. This is a recurrance of my palm tree facination, a reference to Ezekiel's tour of the true temple in heaven, which is adorned with carvings of palm trees (see Ezekiel 40.) (You should be able to see any image enlarged by clicking on it.)

The other detail that I'll share this time is the cover, which I have collaged onto with gold paper, a reference to Revelation 21:18, "The wall was made of jasper, and the (holy) city (of Jerusalem that descended out of heaven) was pure gold, as clear as glass." The other item collaged onto the cover is an actual Polaroid transfer of a cross, symbolizing that accepting Christ is the way into heaven, as in Romans 6:23. "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord." Thank you, Jesus!

Eileen Downes' visions

2007-07-16T20:50:00.000-07:00

Finally I am getting back to this blog! It seems I have a case of vacation-itis; while not actually on vacation, my brain nonetheless seems to be strongly leaning in that direction... then Eileen was good enough to send me some of her notes, right as I was realizing I needed to post something new. While most of us are working quite diligently on the project, it's not always something that gets to the blog right away.

So, Eileen Downes in her own words:

I have always been fascinated by doors, windows, portals, passageways and their symbolic meaning. I have saved such imagery for many years - photos from vacations, magazines, family member’s trips, my own illustrations etc …anything about doors really. I have used some of these fragments in these three collages by layering them over each other, often intertwining them, into an artistic arrangement. Glimpses and views of wonderfully beautiful places symbolic of heaven can be seen though the doorways and windows.

These three pieces together with the previously posted piece titled: My Visit with God, are complete art pieces in their own right, but they are also preparatory illustrations to the larger piece that I am currently working on. This large piece will incorporate a real antique door that the viewer must actually open to reveal the imagery behind. This interactive art piece asks the viewer to make a motion, a decision to open, just like we are asked to make a motion to accept Christ as our Savior. More information and photos of this piece will be included later as it progresses.

"Visions of Heaven #1," 15” x 12” Collage

Doors and windows are symbolic imagery that I use in these pieces to convey the essence of heaven. We can pass though these portals of life like we pass from this world into our eternal life in heaven. The Bible references doors in several verses.

For example, Psalm 78:23 "Yet he gave a command to the skies above and opened the doors of the heavens."

"Visions of Heaven #2," 15” x 12” Collage

Revelation 4:1, "After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, 'Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.'"

Genesis 28:17, "He was afraid and said, 'How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.'"

"Visions of Heaven #3," 15” x 12” Collage

Although the following verse does not specifically mention “doors” it does so indirectly by indicating that there are many rooms in heaven:

John 14:2, "In my Fathers house are many rooms; and if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you."

the mustard tree

2007-07-02T19:49:00.000-07:00

As I've been reading through the New Testament now, I've found that Jesus tells a lot of stories that start, "The kingdom of heaven is like..." and proceeds to give an illustration of some aspect of God's domain. The story of the mustard seed is one of those stories, found almost verbatim both in Matthew 13: 31-32 and Luke 13: 18-19. Jesus says, "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." (Matthew)

Many of you know that I have a personal ongoing project called Tree Stories, with an accompanying blog at http://www.tree-stories.blogspot.com/, so the story of heaven being like a tree was something I had to jump at. So the first thing I set out to do was find out what a mustard tree looked like, and see if there were any near me that I could get a photograph of. Not long into my online research, I realized there is no such thing as a mustard tree - so what, I had to ask, was Jesus talking about? And I found a commentary that seemed to answer that exact question, better than anything I had ever heard. (Unfortunately I don't know where that was, but if someone else finds it again, I'll put a link in here.)

So here's what Jesus was saying, that heaven is like a seed you plant, the tiniest of seeds, expecting to get a bush, actually a pretty big bush from such a small seed, and what you get is a tree, larger than anything else in the garden, bigger and better than you would have ever expected. It's not just the concept of a huge thing coming from a small thing, like I have seen some translations make the story a pine nut and a huge pine tree - no, heaven is more than what you expect, impossible for you to completely imagine, better than your wildest dreams! Jesus wasn't referring to some obscure tree and as the Creator himself, he certainly knew that trees don't grow from mustard seeds - but he wanted us to understand that is exactly what heaven is like - the impossible come to life.

So this will become one of my Visions of Heaven, also one of my Tree Stories, and the title is Tree Story #30: The Mustard Tree. This colored version here is just a colored copy, but I'll post the final here when I get that far. I've got other pieces that are Visions of Heaven Tree Stories, which you can find on my Tree Stories blog, but I'll post here with a little more commentary at a later date.

(If you click on the "mustard tree" link below, you will see all my posts on the subject, including the final piece.)

mystery, excitement, encouragment

2007-06-29T16:45:00.000-07:00

Here's another acrylic work from Ross Conklin, titled, "The Coming of the Lord."

"Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we who are alive and remain shall be changed and caught up together with the Lord in the air. So shall we forever be with Him." This is the main theme for this piece, coming from 1 Corinthians 15: 51-52. Beginning in verse 15 and continuing to verse 58, that chapter speaks extensively of the resurrection of the dead to be with Christ, and of the nature of the resurrection body, different from our current bodies.

Ross illustrates this event, showing the trumpet being blown, and believers joining Christ, above the trumpet blower, in the air. Ross shares his excitement about this event, as with his previous pieces, in his choice of palette; the bright, nearly primary colors making our hearts race just a bit, and we are encouraged, as mentioned in 1 Thessalonians 4: 13-18:

"Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words."

Thanks for sharing, Ross!

halleluia

2007-06-20T15:17:00.000-07:00

Here's another acrylic work from Ross Conklin; the man has certainly been busy painting.

This piece is titled, "Halleluia," portraying the welcoming committee at the gate of heaven with singing and dancing as the "Saints Go Marching In." Once again relating his visual work to his musical roots, Ross this time finds inspiration in the old Negro spiritual. Ross also says, "Notice the joyful faces welcoming a newcomer at the gate of heaven."

Ross offers scriptural references supporting a big party at heaven's gates first from Isaiah 35:10.
"And the ransomed of the Lord will return.
They will enter Zion with singing;
everlasting joy will crown their heads.
Gladness and joy will overtake them,
and sorrow and sighing will flee away."

While 1 Corinthians 2:9 has been used to support the concept that we can't envision what heaven will be like, the first part of verse 10 clearly states that we can. In it's entirety, the passage says, "However, as it is written:
'No eye has seen,
no ear has heard,
no mind has conceived
what God has prepared for those who love him'
but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit."
Ross uses it here to point out that it will likely be even better than we can imagine or possibly depict in our limited capabilities as human artists. Nonetheless, his depiction stirs our imaginations.

Once again, Ross points out that any who ask can be a part of this great celebration by pointing to Revelation 22: 14-17. "'Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
'I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches, I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.'
The Spirit and the bride say, 'Come!' And let him show hears say, 'Come!' Whoever is thirsty, let him come, and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life."

I'm certainly looking forward to being at that party!

more from ross

2007-06-19T20:02:00.000-07:00

This is another piece from acrylic painter Ross Conklin titled, "The New Jerusalem."

For this piece, Ross, who has spent much of his life as a musician as well, draws from the old slavery spiritual, "Goin' to that Beautiful City." He shows us the new Heaven and new Earth coming down from heaven, referred to in Revelation 21, then also refers to Isaiah 12, a song of praise looking forward to the new Jerusalem.

Another reference that Ross uses for this piece is Ecclesiastes 12:5,
"When men are afraid of heights
and of dangers in the streets;
when the almond tree blossoms
and the grasshopper drags himself along
and desire no longer is stirred.
Then man goes to his eternal home
and mourners go about the streets."

Ross points out that believers will be welcomed in the New Jerusalem with 2 Peter 1:11, which says,"And you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."Echoing the sentiment, Ephesians 2:19 says, "Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household."

Finally, Ross refers to Revelation 22: 14-17, which points out that all who invite Christ into their lives will be invited into the New Jerusalem. "Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral,the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
'I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.'
The Spirit and the bride say, 'Come!' And let him who hears say, 'Come!' Whoever is thirsty, let him come, and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life."

work from ross conklin

2007-06-15T11:11:00.000-07:00

Ross Conklin is often one of our more quiet artists, but he certainly doesn't lack anything to say. It seems that Ross carefully considers his words before sharing and the same applies to his artistic expressions as well.

Ross works in acrylic paints, and his control is amazing when you see him write or draw, because you realize that he has tremors in his hands that would deter most people from even attempting such fine motor control. Ross says that he uses both hands to control his paint brushes, and is rewarded with results that many artists without such physical hurdles would be proud of.

This piece is Ross's first Vision of Heaven, which he actually painted before we began this project, titled "Watch and Pray." Ross explains, "For the Son of Man will come at an hour you do not expect Him. All eyes will see Him. We must come to God as little children. Old things shall pass away and everything will become new. We are redeemed by His blood." He provides several scriptures to support his work, including Isaiah 9:2, which says, "The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned." He also sites Isaiah 12, a song of praise to God, and Isaiah 40, which describes how God would release Israel from captivity to Babylon as well as the final days when Christ returns to earth.

Ross seems to almost explain his artistic vision with Daniel 7:13, which says, "In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence."

The child figure in the piece is explained by Matthew 18: 1-6, in which Christ speaks of entering into heaven as children and in Matthew 19: 13-14, when Jesus says to allow children to come to him. In Matthew 24 Jesus teaches about the future, his return, and about being watchful, giving overall context; it's also from this scripture that the piece gets its title.

An all too common refrain when Christian concepts are discussed is that it all seems a bit crazy, but Ross points out I Corinthians 2: 14-15, which explains that "the man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment."

The importance of the cross as access to heaven is explained in Colossians 1:20, "And through (Jesus) to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross." And again in Colossians 2:14-15: "Having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross."

Finally, Ross directs the focus of the whole artwork on the sun, a metaphor for God's son, illustrating Hebrews 12:2, "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

more from jared

2007-06-12T15:30:00.000-07:00

Jared thought he was a major procrastinator, but little did he know it would then become contagious! After two long silent (and for me, very busy) weeks, an update on our Heaven art project!

From Jared's keyboard, "Here is my new image. But this time I have also included the beginning stages of the drawing.

Image one represents the initial pencil stage. A rough sketch that will later become the final image.

Image two represents the ink stage. I outline the sketch with ink and erase the pencil line.

Image three is the final stage. I add the color and a lot of black pencil to make the final work.

This particular image was inspired by Hebrews 12:1. "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." This image is an average man stripping off the sin that entagles him to begin that extraordinary race."

Thanks a bunch, Jared!

tree of life

2007-05-28T20:28:00.000-07:00

New images from our resident bead artist (among other things,) Sheila Stockton:

These images are based on Revelation 22:2, "The Tree of Life with its twelve kinds of fruit yeilding its fruit each month." Sheila envisions these sketches as small beaded pieces, possibly as a pair or in a series.

She's collected many beads that will work for the project already (and even more than we're sharing here.)

Pretty green leaf beads in various shades and several kinds of fruit - maybe even twelve?

jerusalem palms

2007-05-22T09:17:00.000-07:00

Last week I finally got some new palm tree shots for this project - sometimes squeezing in a long term project like this is tricky amongst the current deadlines - you can see my journal for the shooting session at my Wanderings blog (http://www.judithmonroe.com/journal.html.)

So I was able to insert a copy of photos into my heaven journal, to help guide me when I go into the darkroom - also tricky to squeeze in sometimes - this is what the whole thing looks like when layered, a sort of approximation of the final image, much less refined, but the basic idea.

The topmost layer is a map of ancient Jerusalem, showing the history of the city.

The center layer is the colored photograph of the palms and a clock tower, representing the future Jerusalem.

The bottom layer in my journal will likely be part of the overlay in the finished product, but it's appropriate here as the foundation of the work, the scripture that the whole concept of heaven is based on.

This particular scripture comes from Zechariah 2:4-5, "Jerusalem will someday be so full of people and livestock that there won't be room enough for everyone! Many will live outside the city walls. Then, I, myself, will be a protective wall of fire around Jerusalem, says the Lord. And I will be the glory inside the city!" This ties in with the references to the New Jerusalem in Revelation, speaking of a huge cube-like city brought down from heaven to earth, so much larger than the Jerusalem of the past, that it could house incredibly large numbers of people. We can only begin to imagine the glory of it all...

river of healing

2007-05-16T18:33:00.000-07:00

As part of my working on this project, I find myself pouring over my Visions of Heaven journal. This helps me to remember ideas I've had and things I want to shoot, or things I need to print...

As a photographer, there is always a cache of negatives crying out to be printed, sometimes waiting for the right project, other times just waiting patiently for me to get my sorry behind into the darkroom! I've even made quick copies of what I want to print and paired them with scripture and ideas for this project, but other things have demanded my time first. Other shows booked, deadlines for juried events, classes, you name it. But I digress...

So this is a pair of images that I've decided I need to print up as a diptych, called the River of Healing, based on Ezekiel 47: 7 & 9, "When I returned, I was surprised by the sight on many trees growing on both sides of the river.... There will be swarms of living things wherever the water of this river flows... Life will fourish wherever this water flows." I'm back at Ezekiel's vision of heaven and this is his description of the River of Life that flows from the temple - that same one with the palm trees carved on the door posts.

I live in a town at the confluence of two rivers, the American and the Sacramento, and we can go to the edges of these rivers to enjoy the bounty of life there, especially along the American, where some time ago citizens had the foresight to preserve a large amount of wild space along the river. I've spent a fair amount of time shooting along the American, so it was pretty easy to find appropriately lush and wonderful river images to match with this bit of scripture. I'm fairly certain the final pieces will have the palm trees along the edges, but this gives an idea of how I think it will look when it's done.

(By the way, if you want to see this image or any other larger, just click on it.)

an amazing offer

2007-05-04T15:28:00.000-07:00

Jared Konopitski sent me another one of his colored pencil works in his typical style. I think it's great that Jared has such an identifiable style, it shows remarkable maturity as an artist at an age I was still... well, never mind that. Jared does a great job of explaining the piece and how it came to be, so I'll just share what he wrote:

"The verse that inspired this image is Malachi 3:16 which says: 'Then those who feared the Lord spoke with each other, and the Lord listened to what they said. In his presence, a scroll of remembrance was written to record the names of those who feared him and loved to think about him.'

It continues on to say in verse 17 that God will spare them as a father spares an obedient and dutiful child, "them" being the ones whose name is on the scroll. The scroll then almost seemed like a peace treaty to me. I drew the scroll, and the doves around the scroll represent the peace that God promises to those whose names are on it. The scroll in my image advertises that it is still possible to get your name written on this amazing offer.

thats all for now,

mor later :)

Jared"

more feasting

2007-04-30T10:06:00.000-07:00

Here's an update on Becky's "feasting" work: as you can read in her notes here, she's begun the work on her actual clay piece and has provided an updated sketch. She has an interesting mix of perspectives, actually seeming to look down on the feasting table in Heaven when we're usually looking up, but then showing the table in context of a world map, implying how Heaven will be on the earth. Also note the river rocks in the upper right corner, which I assume allude to the river of life.

In addition, the figure in the foreground truly depicts being separated from God by the flames that block the way, but still allow the figure to see what is being missed - showing the true heartbreak of believers who don't want anyone to miss out. I can't wait to see the final work, with all of it's nuances. If you want to see this image larger (or any of the other images in this blog, for that matter, ) simply click on it!

feasting in the kingdom of heaven

2007-04-23T09:34:00.000-07:00

Becky Baker recently shared her vision of feasting in heaven, a deliciously complex image full of meaning. Her sketch here is for a base of fired clay with images of collaged paper and paint to show a feast in heaven "among our beloved pets and family." On the lower section of the piece is an image of hell, separated from the feast. She says she also "will include an angel or two to show that they will be at the service of man in heaven." (See Hebrews 1:14.)

Becky's scriptural reference for this piece is Luke 14:15 which says, "Blessed is the man who will eat at the feast in the Kingdom of God." This concept of feasting in heaven is repeated several times, including in Isaiah 25:6, Matthew 8:11 and Revelation 19:9. That's a meal you won't want to miss...

palm trees in heaven?

2007-04-18T14:12:00.000-07:00

It all started during my regular cruise through the Bible. You know, that daily reading thing? Well, I just cruise through it, front to back, over and over again - eventually, anyway. So I just happened to be reading Ezekiel 40 one bright and sunny day and Ezekiel has this vision...

A guy who looks like bronze (no, really, like bronze) shows Ezekiel the temple area, first the east gate to the outer court, then the outer court, then the north gate, and so on. Mr. Bronze has a measuring stick and is measuring all these rooms for Ezekiel and Ezekiel dutifully tells us all the dimesions of these rooms. I'm thinking that this is an unusually slow day's worth of reading when I begin to notice something: each room is described in painfully measured detail, so long by so wide by so high, blah blah blah and then, "The doorjambs between the alcoves were decorated with palm trees." No really - boring measurements, then a little detail about decoration, the same decoration, six times over - go look it up for yourself.

The vision continues on through Ezekiel 41 and then in Ezekiel 43:7, "This is the place I will live with the Israelites forever." (That's God speaking.) I find this utterly facinating. God is showing Ezekiel his holy temple where he'll live forever, so that's on the New Earth, and he bothers to mention decorating the place with palm trees. Six times.

So being slightly obsessed with trees (you can see my Tree Stories blog by looking at my profile) I look up the significance of palm trees to Jews. I discover it has been a symbol of Judah and - drum roll, please - a symbol for the tree of life. The tree of life that was planted in Eden and is now in "the paradise of God" and will be alongside the river flowing out of the temple in the New Jerusalem. Pretty cool, huh?

I've decided to make the palm tree my own recurring theme for all my Heaven artwork, most likely always up the sides of my images, like the carvings on the temple doorposts. And no doubt, a few will show up in my photos, as they already have.

something from Eileen Downes

2007-04-13T16:37:00.000-07:00

One of our resident collage artists, Eileen Downes, sent a heaven image to me, created in response to her father's death, I believe a few years ago. She says, "It is about talking, visiting, and communing with God in his dwelling place, heaven. Clock imagery is added as a reference to time both eternal and to our time here on earth. Some words and phrases are visible, but most important is the phrase 'to embrace the dream.'"

Eileen pairs the piece, a 13 x 10" collage titled "My Visit With God," with the Biblical reference that God has prepared a place for us in heaven to be with Him. "In my Father’s house there are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. And I go and prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also will be where I am. You know the way to the place that I am going." John 14: 2-4

The subject of heaven and loved ones that have gone through the door of death form a natural juxaposition. It can also be a great source of comfort for those of left behind. I personally find this piece interesting because I, too, have a piece of artwork that I was working on when my father died, and it became part of my grieving process. In its own way, that piece also references heaven, so maybe I'll post it as well, at some time in the future.

timeline notes

2007-04-12T10:06:00.000-07:00

I wanted to explain a bit about my "Timeline of Heaven" piece, just a couple posts below...

The whole concept for the piece came when I was reading Randy Alcorn's "In Light of Eternity," and he was mentioning something about the five stages of heaven. This thought was brand-new for me, and frankly started to trigger some skeptical thinking. I adopted a "where is it written?" attitude to teachings about the Bible a long time ago, and I wasn't going to take Randy's word about five stages of heaven lightly and just keep moving on. So I started to study his references and being a visual person, I decided to draw a time line to help me literally see what he was talking about.

It was pretty amazing to me how the whole thing played out - and though it's not labeled in the Bible, the five stages of heaven concept certainly held up to scrutiny. In fact, Paul actually refers to the "third heaven" in 2 Corinthians 12:1-4, which totally blew my mind, because that's where it fit on my time line.

Briefly, the five stages are as follows, in case you can't read my scribbles on the page above. There are actually more Biblical references than I've noted here, but I've kept it fewer in the interest of keeping my visuals simple.

First: Heaven before the fall of Satan. Satan's fall is found in Isaiah 14:12-15 and Ezekiel 28:12-17.

Second: Heaven in Old Testament times and before Christ died, often referred to as "Paradise" as in Luke 16:22.

Third: Heaven presently, after Christ's resurrection, Christ is currently in Heaven as found in Luke 23:43; 2 Corinthians 12:1-4; 2 Corinthians 5:8; Hebrews 9:11, 23-24; Acts 1:11 and Hebrews 8:2.

Fourth: Christ's millennial reign on earth, as depicted in Revelations 19:11-16 and Revelations 20:6-10.

Fifth and eternal: Heaven on earth, called the "New Heavens and the New Earth" in Revelations 20:14-15, Revelations 21 & 22, as well as in Isaiah 65.

Once I got all that down on a time line, it suddenly occurred to me that it would make a great overlay for one of my new earth images, which finally resulted in the finished piece as posted previously.

Of course, that doesn't explain the palm trees along the edges, but that will wait for another day.

work from Jared

2007-04-11T11:38:00.000-07:00

Responding to my request, our very own Jared Konopitski has sent in a couple images. You may notice Jared has his own style, like an illustrative cartoon, in these cases very light hearted. Very versatile, he can also depict darker scenes with this same style, which maybe I'll get to post some of later.

This one is "Isaiah 11:8," which says, " The baby will play safely near the hole of a cobra. Yes, a little child will put its hand in a nest of deadly snakes without harm."

This is part of the prophetic writings in Isaiah regarding the new earth, after Christ comes back to earth and restores it, a great source of heaven imagery!

More new earth imagery from Isaiah and Jared...

"Isaiah 55:12" reads, "You will live in joy and peace. The mountains and hills will burst into song, and the trees of the field will clap their hands!"

Now folks, it's time for some more work from some others - I'll work on getting some basic stuff posted soon, too.

first image posting: Timeline of Heaven

2007-04-05T17:01:00.000-07:00

This piece is titled "Timeline of Heaven", a mixed media photograph by Judith Monroe (that would be me.)

I hope we can post more images soon - maybe something cool from Jared?

and so it begins

2007-04-05T16:54:00.000-07:00

As our heaven study winds down, we move it cyber space...

working title

2007-02-20T14:42:00.000-08:00

“Visions of Heaven” is the working title of a group art project by Covenant Artists based on a Biblical study of Heaven. It’s very important to us that this be God working through us, so our whole process begins and ends with prayer and is thoroughly rooted in Scripture. Our study is largely based on a book by Randy Alcorn titled “In Light of Eternity” who has given many Scripture references in each chapter of his book.

As we read through the book together, we look up each scripture, taking it in context, looking for cross-references, and sketching images that we find described or imagine. We come together once a week at this stage to share what we have learned, to bring up questions and to discuss imagery - it is a very exciting process!

Our desire is that through our artwork, others will have a better understanding of what the Bible reveals about the place that Christ has gone to prepare for all of his disciples. For other believers, we hope it will get them excited about heaven, maybe in a way they never have been before. And for those who don’t yet believe, we hope it will get them excited as well...

For our final exhibitions, first a small show in the First Covenant Café, then a larger more public exhibit at the Artisan Gallery, each piece will include at least one Scripture reference to support it. As we have begun working on this study together, it’s quite likely that many images will reference several Bible verses, so we are considering how best to make that available to the viewing public.