Sunday, November 8, 2009

A Man of Sorrows

I awoke one morning about a month ago with a feeling of urgency…maybe that’s not the word I want…maybe more “feeling impressed upon” to do a specific painting. I made a sketch, showed it to my son and explained to him my thoughts on the painting. The first thing he said in response was…”a man of constant sorrow.” Isaiah 53:3 says “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.” Let me show you by posting my latest “practice” work.


A MAN OF SORROWS
16x20 oil on stretched canvas

Detail...Christ's tears

As I mentioned above, this is a practice piece. I wanted to make sure that what I had in mind; I would be able to create before doing a large canvas. I am told that an artist should leave the interpretation of an artwork to the viewer, but I want no mistaking what I’m saying here…or is it really what the Lord is saying??

The background is the Orion cosmos. For your interest, the constellation Orion, which by the way is the largest and brightest constellation in the universe, depicts… the Glorious One, He Who Triumphs, coming forth as light. Something I learned in my Sunday school class after I did the painting. Isn’t that interesting? (The Greeks call Orion The Hunter). Christ is shown in His ascended glory looking down on earth; His left hand clutching at His heart in grief, while lifting His right hand off the earth in a gesture of both blessing and allowance (allowing man to make his choices, good or bad). He is crying because He is saddened at what He sees as man’s rejection of the Word of God.

Through the art forums I belong to, I have received suggestions on how I can make this piece even better and I appreciate that help very much. I am intimidated by doing a larger canvas, so I am not quite ready to tackle that yet, but I will when it feels right.

Mahalo and thank you for visiting.

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9 comments:

  1. I do believe we need to listen to our dreams. This definitely may be one of the most important pieces you'll paint Lokelani! It is so impressive with this "smaller" size. 16x20 is not that small. How large are you thinking of making this next masterpiece?

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  2. I love your painting. The Man of earthly sorrows is also the Man of heavenly bliss.
    Re your question on my blog: "What is DSFDF?"
    It stands for Different Strokes From Different Folks. It's a painting challenge blog by Karin Jurick. You should get in on it. It's great fun!

    htpp://differentstrokesfromdifferentfolks.blogspot.com/

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  3. Thank you both for visiting my blog and commenting.
    Sheila...I have always been one to pay attention to my dreams (if I can remember them). I have found that sometimes ideas just "pop" into my head out of nowhere...I pay attention to those also. I'm not sure about size, but want to go for impact.

    Dean...He is certainly the Man of heavenly bliss as well. Hmmm...I follow Karin's blog so will go to this other blog and check it out.

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  4. What an extroadnary painting, its very inspirational, background, is superb, I would love to see this on a big canvas.You have done well with this Lokelani.

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  5. Julie...thank you so much for your kind comment.

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  6. Thank you so much for sharing more of the feelings and symbolism (you know I'm a great fan of symbols that are personal to the artist *s*) behind this beautiful piece.

    Please don't be afraid to answer that "push" with your creativity whenever you feel it - whether it is to paint that larger version or something else. I understand that feeling well and am, again, moved and delighted by your wonderful work here and by your open sharing of what's behind it for you.

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  7. Krystal: Thank you for understanding how it is when one is "moved" to create. In this day of politically correctness, you just get to the point of feeling that you must say it like it is. There just might be that one person out there who needs to hear what you have to say.

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  8. I really like the colors you used in this painting. In spite of the sadness portrayed on the face, the colors bring a type of uplifting than if you had used dark and dreary colors. I see it as signifying hope. Great piece!

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  9. MuzikGirl...there is always hope. Aloha pumehana.

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