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Remain in Me 6’ x 4” Mixed Media on Paper
I love observing natural things around me and relating them to scripture I am studying. This summer while I was meditating on John’s writings about the vine and the branches in chapter 15, I only had to walk out to our yard and into the empty lot next door for an object lesson. The summer rains had produced a forest of wild grape vines, not only covering the ground but also climbing over all the trees and palms and small bushes. There were leaves of every size and variation of green that I could imagine. The tendrils wound around anything that would support them and they just kept growing out of control.
As an experiment, I pulled off leaves of various sizes and brought them into my studio. After preparing paper, I applied watercolor paint onto the leaves and stamped them onto the paper. I wasn’t sure how I would compile them, but I kept meditating on John 15: remain in me; no branch can bear fruit by itself; you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
The final piece is this iconic hanging where the leaves hang separately yet together, encompassed by gold leaf symbolizing the Father’s Love. It is a call from isolationism to community and to love one another as a consequence of remaining in God’s Love.
I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:8
As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. John15:9
©copyright phyllis thomas, 2008 |
