Friday, March 29, 2013

Life for Life
acrylic on paper and 24K gold leaf
38" x 12"
copyright phyllis thomas 2013

Meditations on Lent


Perhaps I've begun a tradition:  the last two years I've made artwork for my Lenten meditation. This year the piece was a surprise and turned out different than the image I had in my head.  Below is the reflection from making this piece:

The life of a creature is in its blood.  The Old Testament is full of writings that tell of the shed blood of goats and calves during the many festivals and ordinary sacrifices performed by the Priest in accordance with the Law of Moses.  The animal's blood was sacred and offered as atonement for sin.

These writings in the Old Testament point forward to the New Testament and the final, eternal redemption offered by Christ.  It's no longer necessary to sacrifice over and over for the forgiveness of sin; Christ died and shed His sacred blood once for all and ascended into the true heavenly sanctuary.

I painted this piece in response to the scripture references listed below.  All I could see was red for the blood.  As I started with the red pigment and added black, there were many surprises that happened and I finished quickly, leaving the unplanned textures.  When I stood back and looked at it I almost left it untitled because I could see many possible titles.  I finally committed to Life for Life but maybe you can see another title more meaningful for you.

References:
Leviticus 17:1; Hebrews 9:11-12; Ephesians 1:7; Ephesians 2:13; Ephesians 2:8-9