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The Holy Spirit in the form of a dove in the blue of the sky is woven between the figures attesting to His living presence in their lives.
Children are of differing ages and one is of a different ethnicity meaning God does not differentiate in his love.
The youth are colourful, interconnected, energetic and exuberant in their praises showing the joy of life in the present and happy being with the Holy Spirit.
Colours are vibrant. Children are clear eyed, pure of spirit and alive in God’s grace. Three of them are literally my grand children and one a friend. We should love all children and youth as God does.
An open wound being healed by hospitality is depicted. Torn rags above and below represent an open wound in of need of healing.
The rags simultaneously relate to the inflicted wounds of Christ, His torn clothes and His suffering on the cross as well as referring to our own sufferings, torn apart lives and anxieties in need of healing.
Within the open wound space is a healing process of hospitality in a simple gesture of giving, showing compassion and willingness to help. The hands seemingly differ in age suggesting help for the elderly or impaired. The central theme is reaching out to others in need, or simply love for one another.
The flower is of the field whose petals and seeds scatter on the wind. It is nature as God designed it unmodified. The scattering is on the breath of God. The seeds and petals represent God’s love.
Within the open wound and at the centre of the gesture of hospitality is the Holy Spirit once again in the form of the sky dove.
It constantly appeared as I painted the acronym paintings.
In this painting the Holy Spirit literally caused me to break through the rag cloud shape depicting the divide between heaven and earth, to reference God’s incredible healing power through His spirit in His people.
Giotto’s 1304 religious painting ‘Kiss of Judas’ depicting Jesus looking intensely into the eyes of Judas inspired the face to face image in this painting. Realness could not be hidden from Jesus and Judas knew it.
On the positive side, eye to eye contact can be a source of honest, profound and enduring relationship; something to be treasured.
In this painting I have used identical profiles facing each other, almost like identical twins. Each one is the all knowing reflection of the other.
Realness with God means being open to His will; not hiding from Him, blaming Him or ignoring His promptings. Rather it is reflecting Him in our lives by seeing others as He would see them.
The beating heart overlayed with hands represents the sensitivity of relationships and the need to keep realness alive in our community.
Again the Holy Spirit dove image appeared as curved wings in the jaws of the faces, with the dove’s head being the open centre of the R shape and penetrating into the heart.
The almighty hand of God shines down on the people joyfully singing His praises. It also represents God’s grace and our desire to seek God’s will through prayer.
There is a two way relationship happening here where light is shining upwards to the hand as well as downward from the hand; praise and blessing being one with God, each reflecting the other.
Although the dove did not appear clearly in this image it seems to have the same presence in the wrap- around sky enveloping the singers.