But the Righteous; Proverbs 29 post

But the Righteous

Update for 2020: This painting was painted in 2013 for a 30 paintings in 30 days challenge that I was participating in, and my paintings for that series were based on the 31 chapters of Proverbs in the Old Testament. When I painted them and blogged about them in 2013, I felt that I understood why I was painting them, and they seemed to fit the passages I was working from. However, today, in light of the global pandemic we are experiencing, I see them a little bit differently. I think that maybe, just maybe, GOD inspired me to paint these things with today in mind. And actually, that would not surprise me too much, since HE is Who HE is, and since I try to listen and follow Him in my painting as well as my daily life. 

In this painting, the birds are tiny and you have to be looking for them to see them. Today, in 2020, the birds are reminders to me of how GOD provides all that we need, just as He provides for the birds. In the Old Testament, He used birds to bring food to one of His prophets, (1 Kings 17:2-6)

The 2020 verse for this painting is 1 Kings 17:2-6 (Christian Standard Bible) “Then the word of the Lord came to him:  ‘Leave here, turn eastward, and hide at the Wadi Cherith where it enters the Jordan. You are to drink from the wadi. I have commanded the ravens to provide for you there.’ So he proceeded to do what the Lord commanded. Elijah left and lived at the Wadi Cherith where it enters the Jordan. The ravens kept bringing him bread and meat in the morning and in the evening, and he would drink from the wadi.”


From 2013: The woods called me for a long walk today (and I found some interesting things there!), and spent a lot of time thinking while I was there. I absolutely love to walk in the woods! I really love it all year, but there is something so special about the Autumn. Especially early in the season, when the leaves are on the cusp of turning to their best colors, and yet just a little further on, the cold, gray winter enters - the outdoors alone almost communicates all of this. 

This verse from Proverbs seems to express a bit of the same sense of expectancy. This is the feeling I wanted to communicate with my painting today. 

I used a lot of impasto and also sgrafitto technique to give energy and urgency to this expression. 

Proverbs 29:16 (AMP) When the wicked are in authority, transgression increases, 
but the [uncompromisingly] righteous shall see the fall of the wicked.


11" x 14" acrylic on wood panel