4th February 2017 - Isaiah 26:3-7:You, Lord, give perfect peace to those who keep their purpose firm and put their trust in you. Trust in the Lord forever; he will always protect us. He has humbled those who were proud; he destroyed the strong city they lived in, and sent its walls crashing into the dust. Those who were oppressed walk over it now and trample it under their feet. Lord, you make the path smooth for good people; the road they travel is level.
Wow this one was a while in development! This started off as a bright coloured photo of some street art on a brick wall. managed to get rid of the wall lines and turn it into a completely different image!
Then, though, nothing I tried seemed to work. I spent hours adding all sorts then deleting it all! Then thankfully, some Anna Aspnes course content really moved it along, along with a little help from Topaz Adjust to complete the look of (hopefully) an old old photo impression.
But then what? The thought came to me that what I wanted to portray, to illustrate the spirit of the Bible verses for the day, was a young child in an image, a child of today, a refugee or a child living in poverty. How will history look back at these times? What will somebody looking at such an image in 100 years think about the world we live in today where people can be so disposable and hated for their colour, creed, or geographical location?
Finally, the thought came to me of giving the child a little jewellery - the headband she wears, made of barbed wire. Barbed wire that keeps people within camps...or keeps people out of where they're not wanted. There is a hint of blood on her forehead...making the barbed wire headband reminiscent of the crown of thorns worn by Our Lord. Her eyes, that at first looked rather sad and downtrodden, now look rather defiant and even accusing...?
Not such a pleasant image to look at now...what will future generations think?
As I sat in Church this morning (with all the problems our parish and Diocese has always present, of course) I looked at the large wooden crucifix on the wall and thought to myself: did Jesus really die for this kind of Church? For this kind of human interaction? I think perhaps that thought ties in well with my feelings for this piece of art!
TFL!
Bernie x
