The Earth will Bring Forth Its Praise

Art is a form of praise, it is giving back in recognition of what the Master Creator has done for us. Lifting up our talent to Him is like echoing back what He has done in us. He has revealed Himself in His creation and when we paint it, we are saying "So be it, Amem, Amen, Surely, Surely."

We are saying, "We see it." Hallelujah! Revelation has just occurred. The Lord has shined his Light,and I have respond."

 Petal Tips! This painting stands alone. It is the first and the last of this practical style. I always admired artists who painted in this matter and thought I would try it. I began with a 16 X 20 size canvas board. Canvas board, is not one of those flimsy panel boards. Don't put your good work on a panel board. It's cheap, it warps, and to me, it will waste your time.

I took a piece of masonite board, I bought loose canvas, cut it in a 16 X 20 square, I took Elmer's Glue and spread it on the face of the board, then I laid down the canvas on top. It makes a good sturdy surface. Then I sized it with Gesso. I thinned the gesso with water and applied 4 or 5 coats of thin gesso. I didn't want any lines showing through in the undercoat thats why it has to be put on thin.

I drew on the tulips. I blocked it in with a thinned down coat of oil paint. I have used different mediums over the years to thin oils. Any will do. Then I took a measuring stick and drewa grid on the surface. I then proceeded laying in thin paint in each grid.

 I decided on the light pattern before hand. I wanted to make sure I followed through with each grid and that the light pattern wasn't just haphazard and looked  like a tic tac game.

It was one of those paintings, I did it, I tried it, but it felt too constricted for me. But for some of you, it will be your cup of tea. It has its beauty in the eye of the beholder.

Meandering~~~~~Art is a form of praise!. We do not think about the earth praising its maker by bringing forth its vegetation, but it does. There are places that are barren; no water, no life, not substance. We call it wilderness, forsaken. My life has felt like that several times through out my life. There was no fruit on the tree or oxen in the stall but I continued to paint. I believe it was Ezekiel that said, "Thou I will praise him."

Did I know what I was doing in such a desolate state? No. Did I feel like I was praising Him? No. I was escaping from the harshness. I hunkered down into what I knew to do and that was to paint. Those were some very, very dry years, but I look back today and realize, even though there was no dew in the morning, and the heaven shut up its rain, I was exercising what God had put in me, the gift of painting.

And I painted and painted. I honed my gift in the midst of the trial and spent hours in the Word, trying to regain the Light on my life. I painted a painting called  "Drawn into the Wilderness". It was a little cabin in a cold winter scene, desolate and forsaken. It was a picture of me. I took it from Hosea 2:14, where it says, "I drew her into the wilderness to speak gently to her." Yes, God was in the midst of that wilderness experience. And yes, he was speaking to me gently through my art. 

I just remembered how I felt, like a lone tree standing on a hill with bare branches for the world to see. I was being stripped of everything that brought me comfort, everything I thought represented success with the Lord, i.e. His blessing. 

This painting, "The Earth will bring forth its Praise" was painted at that time. I am always so amazed when we feel like we are so alone, we aren't. The Spirit is lusting against the flesh, it is fighting for our soul.  It is a stripping away those fleshly desires. The tulip is the first flower of spring and it is always a sign that the winter has gone and spring is coming. Many times the tulip in this area in the Rocky Mountains is coming out of a cold ground, where the snow is just beginning to melt.

The Earth will Bring Forth Its Praise (Oil)