After Cleansing

Kezzi, BLOCHhead, and I have recently started an acrylic class at our local Arts Center. I'd always been kind of afraid of paint because pencil has been the only medium I've worked with. But, learning to conquer my fears of getting out of the box, I took an extended watercolor class last year and this year I'm venturing into acrylic. I'm finding that it is easier to express oneself with watercolor or acrylic (I haven't tried oil yet), than with colored pencil.

Recently I was inspired by a gallery of paintings at our library titled "Out of the Box, Crazy with Color". To some of the artists, 'out of the box' was portrayed by large, colorful flowers or modern art type figures, but to others it meant digging deeper and instead of painting realistically (i.e. from photos), portraying the emotions and opinions. I have never tried this way of expressing myself but I did last week Monday night (or you could say Tuesday morning) a little after midnight with this acrylic painting, titled "After Cleansing". In an attempt to explain it...

The rock wall on the left is a progression of levels: Bottom to Top - Covenant, Communion, Repentance, Cleansing, Philadelphia (true brotherly love), Atonement, & Tabernacle. I came up with these and then afterwards realized that there were seven of them. The seven colors of the rainbow symbolize each level respectively and the splatters of color symbolize the pieces of the seven we find in each level. I believe those pieces help us to understand what the rest of the climb holds in store but we can only experience the true meaning of each level when we 'climb through' that stage.

The three levels on the right side symbolize the three primary feasts of the Lord. Passover, Pentacost, and Tabernacles.

The woman climbing symbolizes each of us on a personal level but also symbolizes the church's path as Christ's bride. She begins at the bottom where it is warm and comfortable but still hard climbing (especially through repentance) and progresses to the cleansing stage where she is met with the heat of the fire and a steeper climb. I believe that the hardest part of her climb is coming out of that stage. It becomes suddenly cold & black and the next reach is a far one. But the reward at the end is the tree of life, more glorious than any part of her climb. God will continue to bring His people to that point but many fail and fall and have to start over. We must each search our hearts and seek the Lord's help to reach beyond and pull up out of the blackness.