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December 17, 2005 03:50 PM >> 03:50 PM

Advent

At our church we had an Advent Art Show, and since I called on all our artists to provide artwork for the church, I decided I should at least participate. I bought some paints, and for the first time since kindergarten finger painting, I attempted to create a painting (this time I didn't use my fingers)!

The series is made up of five paintings, one for each week of Advent, and one for Christmas Eve.

They are:
Top Left / Week 1 / Hope - "O come, o come Emmanuel"
Bottom Left / Week 2 / Love - "Pure unbounded love Thou art"
Top Right / Week 3 / Joy - "And Heaven and nature sing"
Bottom Right/ Week 4 / Peace - "Far as the curse is found"
Center / Christmas Eve - "Born that man no more may die"

Click on the picture to Enlarge. Scroll down for descriptions.

Top Left / Week 1 / Hope - "O come, o come Emmanuel"
The image is of the Christ in the womb, over his back is the faint image of the Star of David, both signaling his prophesied coming, and hinting at the poetic line, "O come, o come Emmanuel and ransom captive Israel."
Below the infant is the Hebrew for "Emmanuel" - God With Us.

Bottom Left / Week 2 / Love - "Pure unbounded love Thou art"
I must confess I have had a very difficult time trying to think of any visual representation of love other than a heart. I scoured hymn lyrics looking for any visual picture of love in an Advent sense. But there is no vivid imagery of love. It is described, but there are no vivid pictures. So I succumbed, and painted a heart. I thought I was going to just tolerate this painting, but the way I did the brush strokes catches the light like brushed aluminum. As you turn the painting, the light follows the curves of the heart. All the highlights you see on the heart are just the way the light catches it. I am rather pleased with that, if nothing else. The hymn lyric for this painting is "Pure unbounded love Thou art," from "Love divine, all loves excelling." The Hebrew is "Taher" meaning Pure.

Top Right / Week 3 / Joy - "And Heaven and nature sing"
This piece is called "And Heaven and Nature Sing," It is for the third week of Advent "Joy." And after finishing this part, it has given clearer direction to the final piece. I'll tell you how, once they are all up. The Hebrew at the bottom left is "Ranan" which means "Sing for Joy."

The flash from the camera brought out a little more color than is immediately noticeable of the actual painting. It looks almost solid black from a distance. You have to get right on it to notice what this photo displays so readily.

Bottom Right/ Week 4 / Peace - "Far as the curse is found"
It turns out Peace is just as difficult a concept to portray as is Love. This painting is based on the line from "Joy to the World," "He comes to make His blessings flow, far as the curse is found."
The Hebrew word etched in the paint is "Nagar," translated "Flow."

Center / Christmas Eve - "Born that man no more may die"
This is based on the line in "Angels We Have Heard on High," that says "Born that man no more may die." The Greek word written at the bottom is "Etecthe" which is the form of Born that is used in the angel's pronouncement to the shepherds in Luke 2:11.

This painting is designated for the Christmas Eve Vigil, and stands in contrast to the previous four weeks. Where they were dark in color, this is vibrant. The four weeks had a Hebrew word etched into the paint, whereas this (the event that began of the New Testament) has a Greek word written on it.