Easter Week- Cleansing The Temple

Monday- The Last Week Of Jesus' Life

" Now, within four days of the cross. He cleared the courts again by casting out all "them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves."

         

    The cleansing of the temple had strong emotion. This was Jesus' Father's house but it was also His house. Worldly commerce was not allowed because in this house the power of godliness was manifest. By that I mean, the sacrifices made, the prayers uttered, the promises entered into within these walls were done in similitude of the atonement, showing that only in Jesus could sins be made "white as snow' and all brought back into correct alignment with Heavenly Father.

Matthew 21:12 

And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves,

 And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.

     After the indignation came the calmness of healing. Into the courts of the temple came those who were blind, lame and otherwise afflicted. His power was always used for binding, healing, and connecting. 

Who brought the blind to the temple to be healed?
Who carried the lame?
Who can we bring to Jesus?

    As the common people gathered around him, the enraged officials were silenced by the press of the crowd. Little children. who perceived his power, spontaneously burst onto praise, calling him truthfully, the Son of David. 

   That evening he left Jerusalem and retired to Bethany. His hour was near, but not yet.

Other Days In This Last Week

Sunday

Monday-

Easter Week- Palm Sunday

"Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion, shout, O daughter of Jerusalem, behold thy King cometh unto thee; and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt, the foul of an ass."

Zechariah 9:9

   As prophesied in the Old Testament, Jesus entered the city to the tumult of praising. It was a joyful noise, one of hopeful triumph. What were they shouting? Hosanna! Interpreted in Hebrew it means 'save now'. 

John 12:12 “On the next day much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 

 Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.”

     His pathway was strewn with clothing and palm branches. Some pharisees urged him to rebuke the outcry of his disciples but he answered them by saying that if he made them hold their peace even the stones would begin to cry out praise. Some would realize much later how the prophecies of the Old Testament were fulfilled that day. 
   In the New World another reason for praising. The Nephites rejoiced because they triumphed, with the help of God, over the robbers who threatened to overtake all their land. In a few short years this God would come and save them yet again from natural disasters that rocked the world entire world at his death.
   
      3 Nephi 4:30  ”And they did rejoice and cry again with one voice, saying: May the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, protect this people in righteousness, so long as they shall call on the name of their God for protection.  And it came to pass that they did break forth, all as one, in singing, and praising their God for the great thing which he had done for them, in preserving them from falling into the hands of their enemies.
    Yea, they did cry: Hosanna to the Most High God. And they did cry: Blessed be the name of the Lord God Almighty, the Most High God.”

     Back in Jerusalem, Jesus knew his days were numbered and he urged his disciples to believe in the light while the light was still among them so that they would be called 'children of light'.

Believing, receiving, be open

To the truth which makes you 

Loving, and caring, and feeling,

That ye may be his child.

The savior said, "I am the light",

Come, follow me, just reach for my hand.

Your heavy burdens I will share,

My arms enfold you.

Believing, Receiving, Be Open

To the truth which makes you 

Loving, and caring, and feeling,

That ye may be his child.

His light illuminates the path

Warms every heart, each flickering shadow.

Go forth in faith, remove all doubt,

His arms enfold you.

Believing, receiving, be open

To the truth which makes you 

Loving, and caring, and feeling,

That ye may be the children of light.

Words to a song I wrote decades ago as a family motto. To be wholehearted has been a desire of mine for a long time. It seems, sometimes, to be just outside of reach but I do want to be a child of light so that the salvation Jesus brings is mine.

Other Days In The Last Week in the of  Jesus
Sunday

Big Dream For My Art World

 During physical therapy for a broken arm I discovered that the tendons on my hand were no longer able to raise my fourth and fifth finger. The hand surgeon indicated that a repair could be made. And so I wait. 

    This is my short term dream. Please God, allow my hand to be repaired and let me be able to paint freely and play the piano freely. I once wrote that painting was a sustainable hobby. And, I still think it is but I never dreamed my hand would be in jeopardy. My other hand has become more capable and strong during this process but it is not my dominant hand. 

Surgery is scheduled in the Spring and so I wait. But yet I can still paint, maybe more awkwardly. Today is the last installment of the 21 Days In My Art World and I appreciate that perhaps you read some of these posts. They were helpful to me as the writer. I am more able to appreciate what I have accomplished and more eager to keep learning. I believe art making and displaying art is very nurturing in life. Even if you don't create art yourself think of purchasing a piece of art to elevate your home. While prints are great, I own many, buying an original painting is really inspiring. The brushstrokes and paint bring the artist right into your life. 

"You may think you don't have talents, but that is a false assumption, for we all have talents and gifts, every one of us. The bounds of creativity extend far beyond the limits of a canvas or a sheet of paper and do not require a brush, a pen, or the keys of a piano. Creation means bringing into existence something that did not exist before-colorful gardens, harmonious homes, family memories, flowing laughter."

                                                Dieter Uchtdorf

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Favorite Technique

I stumbled on to a technique of framing which was genius. We all know the cost of framing our art. Some artists hire a framer who builds their frames with a particular style, some learn framing themselves, while others buy frames from custom framers. All of these ways were too expensive for me.

The technique I discovered was to buy inexpensive wood art panels and turn them around to become the frame. I painted the recessed back to look like a mat board and then painted the edges black.

                                   To make the edges less matte I painted them with a clear gloss medium. 

I attached the painted panel with six squares of velcro in the middle. So for under $20 I have a consistent way of framing.

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From The Archives

 I started out in collage and acrylic paint. Taking paper images and placing them into a painted world was familiar to me. I think I made collages all through my life. In 2016 I went through a period of fascination with stained glass. A local artist sold beautiful pieces of gardens through the stained glass window. I tried it many ways. 

The difficulty was being exact with the designs of the window.With ruler in hand I carefully measures out dimensions. Some of my tries were wobbly and off center but I did end up with this one. I still like to hang it in the living room during the warmer seasons.

Here is another 2016 collage. This one reminds me to consider whether I'm committed to serve others with all my heart. A favorite scripture rests behind the hands. I think if this period of art making as a way to process thoughts and ideas. My goal was always to reconsider my truth and go deeper than my first surface ideas.

"The Hummingbird" was a really enjoyable collage to create. The pieces of paper were small and it required some patience to lay them side by side to get the right shading. I gifted this to the widow of a man who I admired. He was kind and gentle and a passionate birder. He died of Alzheimers and left this world unable to remember most of us. But, he remembered birds, their calls and their beauty.

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Celebrate!!!

 Today I'm taking time to celebrate the realization that I have created over 70 works of art in the last five years.

It wasn't until I was working on my photo app to create an album entitled "Paintings' that I realized I have pictures of over 70 works of art in five years. That is more than one painting a month.

I needed this realization right now as I tell myself things like, "you have a lot of junk in your art studio", "Is it right to keep making useless things?", "Will anyone value this after you are gone?". 

I doesn't matter!!

What matters is that these images made my heart swell and I learned through my eyes, my hands, my ears, my nose, and my heart.

It's a matter of heart!

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Largest Painting

 Painting large requires room to anchor the canvas and a lot of paint. This is an acrylic painting and canvas size is 3 feet by 3 feet. I entitled it "Fischer Pond In Autumn" and it hangs in my piano teaching space. My process was to lay down many, many layers of paint, first warm colors and then cool. I let the layers run into each other by spraying them with a light mist of water.

There wasn't a vision at the beginning. I was just laying down paint and almost finger painting. But then I looked at the bottom third and decided to change the direction of the paint. A tranquil water scene emerged and I envisioned the pond, surrounded by the change of colors. One of the distinct aspects of the pond is the plant life and in the autumn only the stems of the water lilies poke out of the water. Painting these abstract lines in various directions seemed to anchor the painting. What was once a mess of color settled into a horizon, reflection, and living plant life. I haven't attempted this size again but I do have an empty canvas waiting upstairs. 

Don't be afraid to hang a large painting on a wall. The colors and brushwork will invite you into the artwork and you will grow to love the moment in time you have immortalized. 

                                        

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