Your Royal Majesty

Your Royal Majesty

Update: Sadly, this painting has been ruined. I decided to protect the gold leaf and put a varnish on the entire painting. (I usually do not varnish acrylic paintings because I like the varying surfaces.) When I did, the gold leaf crackled and began to tarnish. It finally blackened and began to rust in places. How ironic, that I tried to protect it by covering all of it, and instead I destroyed the vulnerable part. 

This painting has been waiting patiently for a title and blog post - or maybe not so patiently! The thing is, I am not at all sure I can put into words what I have been working through as I painted it - at least not in such a way that it will make sense. (Not an uncommon problem for me, I am afraid!)

Destroyed
9" x 12"
Painted with the finest quality acrylic heavy-body paint on canvas panel, gold leaf
Ready to frame

Adding gold leaf

I was reading through the New Testament book of Revelation, and was continually amazed by the descriptions of Jesus and heaven. There is a lot of gold and brightness and fire and brilliance! So I started this work with bright colors and white and then began to add and work with iridescent paint and interference paint (which only shows up with the right background and lighting). Then I added a lot of gold leaf, which is just stunning! 

Then, after reading through Revelation, I read the book of Esther from the Old Testament, and I read it in one sitting - it isn't very long. There was a description of the palace of the king that was just spectacular that included purple, white, gold, silver and beautiful hangings and inlaid stone floors with mother of pearl. I would have loved to see that! And it made me think of the surroundings of majesty. That earthly king was a world power at that time, and had the beauty surrounding him to prove it. And our heavenly King is absolute power, and He not only is surrounded by beauty - He is beauty!

So, I added the purple of royalty to my painting. I have included a lot of circles, some of which are more difficult to see, in reference to crowns, diadems, and eternity. I have tried to allow color, iridescence, and texture to show through. I want there to be more to see the closer you look. 

Psalm 96:6 (HCSB)
Splendor and majesty are before Him;
strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.

Psalm 27:4 (HCSB)
I have asked one thing from the Lord;
it is what I desire:
to dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
gazing on the beauty of the Lord
and seeking Him in His temple.

(By the way, purple is an interesting color to research. It has cultural connection to both royalty and death/mourning. It was very rare for a long time due to the difficulty in collecting dye. It is understood to have different inherent meaning generationally. Very few flags use the color purple.)


Revelation 1:12 - 16 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands; and in the middle of the lampstands I saw one like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His chest with a golden sash. His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been made to glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters. In His right hand He held seven stars, and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword; and His face was like the sun shining in its strength.

Esther 1:5-6 When these days were completed, the king gave a banquet lasting seven days for all the people who were present at the citadel in Susa, from the greatest to the least, in the court of the garden of the king’s palace.  There were hangings of fine white and violet linen held by cords of fine purple linen on silver rings and marble columns, and couches of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl and precious stones.