Job - Where Were You?

"Where Were You?" 14 x 11 inches (includes frame) mixed media on mat-board

This is the first in a series of works based on the idea of the separation/connection between things. The concept that there is a place where one ends, and the next, or lack of the next begins. The place where one word becomes another or overlaps slightly. Where does a tree end and the sky begin? Where does one definition begin and end? What fits into the circle of the definition perfectly and completely and what fits only slightly, blurrily, vaguely, it lives on the fringe of where the circle ends (if it ends at all). Did God create persons/places/things as a definition to teach us and to show us Himself, or are they here primarily as an outflowing of his creativity, or are both correct?

This series exists more to ask questions and open up the imagination, than to be an answer or explanation.

This specific piece is titled "Where Were You?"

It's based on Job 38:4-11 (ESV).
⁴ “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell me, if you have understanding.
⁵ Who determined its measurements—surely you know!
Or who stretched the line upon it?
⁶ On what were its bases sunk,
or who laid its cornerstone,
⁷ when the morning stars sang together
and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

⁸ “Or who shut in the sea with doors
when it burst out from the womb,
⁹ when I made clouds its garment
and thick darkness its swaddling band,
¹⁰ and prescribed limits for it
and set bars and doors,
¹¹ and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther,
and here shall your proud waves be stayed’? 

© Keith Brabender 2017

Truth

"Truth" Linocut Print 3 inches by 4 inches.

Linocut prints are created by carving out the negative space around the subject. It's carved out of linoleum with a carving tool. The entire design is created as a mirror image of the desired print. Once carved the lino-print is inked with a roller and pressed onto paper.

This linocut print is one of seven prints I created as illustrations to a series on the marks of a disciple. This series showcases some character traits that a Christ follower should have, and/or should be working towards.

This particular work of art is titled "Truth". It's an image of a construction worker measuring out a "true" (straight) line. The idea of having an instrument like a ruler that sets the standard for every line and measurement used on a project is important. This is a reminder of the solid foundation of truth that anchors all which exists.

© Keith Brabender 2017

Worship

"Worship" Linocut Print 3 inches by 4 inches.

Linocut prints are created by carving out the negative space around the subject. It's carved out of linoleum with a carving tool. The entire design is created as a mirror image of the desired print. Once carved the lino-print is inked with a roller and pressed onto paper.

This linocut print is one of seven prints created as illustrations to a series on the marks of a disciple. This series showcases some character traits that a Christ follower should have, and/or should be working towards.

This particular work of art is titled "Worship" and it shows a man standing before creation and giving his attention to the creator and designer of all things.

© Keith Brabender 2017

Ruth - Wheat Harvest

Watercolor on bristol board 9"x12"

This watercolor was created as a background graphic, but it stands on it's own with a simple elegance. The subject matter is wheat. It comes from the book of Ruth chapter 2 verses 19-23:

"And her mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you glean today? And where have you worked? Blessed be the man who took notice of you.” So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked and said, “The man's name with whom I worked today is Boaz.” ²⁰ And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed by the Lord, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!” Naomi also said to her, “The man is a close relative of ours, one of our redeemers.” ²¹ And Ruth the Moabite said, “Besides, he said to me, ‘You shall keep close by my young men until they have finished all my harvest.’” ²² And Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, “It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, lest in another field you be assaulted.” ²³ So she kept close to the young women of Boaz, gleaning until the end of the barley and wheat harvests. And she lived with her mother-in-law." (ESV)

Ruth and her family were well provided for, because she and Naomi were faithful and followed God's direction for their lives, which landed them in the field of Boaz. Boaz was overly kind to them and instructed the gatherers of his field to leave extra barley and wheat behind for Ruth to glean. (I would encourage anyone to read the whole book of Ruth. It's a short book and layer by layer it reveals many truths about God. You can find it here: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ruth+1&version=ESV )

The themes of wheat, barley, and harvest can be found throughout the Bible. They speak of God's justice, his sovereignty, his great design of creation, the marking off of the seasons. This theme of the harvest and of the seasons is a thread that connects from Genesis, through the time of Jesus on earth, and continues onward until the end of days.

Another connection with the harvest that I find fascinating is that the ripening of the barley is what kept the Hebrew calendar on track, and stopped it from drifting through the seasons. Telling the people whether or not an extra month would need to be added. This resulted in a year that usually lasted 12 months and sometimes lasted 13 months. 

God often uses the things (wheat, barley, harvest, seasons) of his creation as visuals/metaphors to reveal Himself to us. 

© Keith Brabender 2017

Something from Nothing

Six 8in x 10in canvases painted in acrylic. Reads from left to right, top to bottom.

This set is an imagination of the creation of our universe.

It begins with nothing, then adds a point in space, then stretches that point out into a line, then molds the line into a shape, then the 2 dimentional shape spins into a three dimentional form, then that small form multiplies endlessly into bigger more complex forms.

© Keith Brabender 2017

From Creation to the Wedding of Christ with His Bride

Acrylic on six stretched canvases framed in four separate frames total size is approx 4ft x 9ft.

This painting is designed as four pictures and reads from left to right, starting with Creation the one blue canvas on the left, next is Fall the combination of the blue canvas and the red/black canvas on the middle left, then is Salvation the next set of blue canvas with red/black canvas on the middle right, and finishes with Wedding the blue canvas on the right.

Creation:

This is the Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Sprit) along with Man (Adam) and Woman (Eve) together in the Garden of Eden. All of God's creation is still in a state of perfection at this point.

Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.”

Genesis 1:26

Fall:

This is the separation mankind experienced after sin entered into the world.

Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death; prisoners in affliction and in irons, for they had rebelled against the words of God,and spurned the counsel of the Most High.

Psalm 107:11

Salvation:

This is God sending his son Jesus to die on the cross in our place, to take our sin upon Himself.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:16

Wedding:

This is the Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) now reunited with us (followers of Christ), restored once again to a perfect relationship with God.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away."

Revelation 21:1-4

© Keith Brabender 2017