Fine Art by Loreen
How do you define JOY?
From the middle of July through the end of September last year, I had been to the ER 3 times with excruciating pains in my chest and stomach. All 3 times, the doctors told me that it wasn’t a heart issue and it was probably just severe heart burn. The 3rd time I was there, they finally agreed to give me some pain medication, but it wore off several hours later and I woke up the next day in pain again. I just happened to have a doctor’s appointment the next day at the same hospital. By the time I arrived at that appointment, the pain was so excruciating that the doctor just sent me directly to the ER again. I don’t remember a time when I was in so much pain. When I arrived at the ER, the doctors and nurses did the exact same tests they had done less than 24 hours later, except for one thing. There was a different doctor on call that afternoon and she decided to test for something completely different than what had been tested before. She ordered the test and she was right. So the one doctor on call, that one shift on that one afternoon tested for something different and it was divine intervention that she was there because it is very possible that she saved my life that night.
The test confirmed that I had pancreatitis and I was admitted into the hospital for 4 days. Since I have recovered from it, I have been asking myself those questions above, among many others. The experience led to a life-changing perspective shift on all aspects of my life, not just the physical part. It helped me clarify my priorities and life goals.
In today’s volatile cultural climate it’s hard sometimes to know what is true or false, what is real and what is fake. For the last 2,000 years, Catholics and Christians have used art as a powerful tool to teach the Truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Millions of people throughout the ages have experienced God in a powerful way through the art that Christians have created. And during the middle and renaissance ages, artists were commissioned specifically to portray a certain person or story from the Bible so that those who couldn’t read could understand and experience God in those stories for themselves.
But it feels like that kind of powerful art has either gone unnoticed or ignored over the last century due to the rise of modern media and entertainment. When was the last time you saw a powerful piece of art that helped you understand the life and stories of Jesus in deeper way? We have lost the concept and power of beauty, particularly expressed in visual art, because we have lost the sense of a powerful, compassionate God who is beautiful and takes great pleasure in creating beautiful things.
Many of you may know that I graduated with a Master’s degree in Biblical Theology in 2018 and I have long wondered how this education can be connected directly to my art. I feel like I am getting closer to that answer as I am working on paintings that are directly inspired by scripture. I love scripture! So much. So often you see a beautiful work of art that makes you feel good, it might even make you think about God. But What God has been showing me lately is the need for art for the very distinct purpose of pointing people directly to scripture. Beautiful art that points you to the personification of Beauty Himself, Jesus Christ. So this is how the two things that I love so much, art and scripture, come together.
Ash Wednesday is almost upon us and during this lent, I have a series of paintings that I can’t wait to share with you to help you prepare for Easter, where the ugliness of sin and death give way to the beauty of Salvation and Life, made possible by Jesus on the cross.
Please be sure to follow along on this Lenten journey with me on my new(ish) Instagram page.
In an effort to connect art and scripture I have started a new series called “Psalms in a jar” where I choose a psalm number out of a jar and take you through my journey of painting a depiction of that Psalm. To see the first installment, click here: https://www.instagram.com/loreensfineart/ And don’t forget to like, comment and share!
I’m so grateful I have friends like you to journey alongside with this Lent and beyond!
I pray that you have a fruitful Lent and a very blessed Easter.
Love, Loreen
