That Lovely Fragrance

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That Lovely Fragrance

 "These past several days I have had a 100% failure rate," I told my artist friend. "Ouch! Keep at it." He responded. "Thanks, I will..."


12" x 12"
Painted with the finest quality acrylic heavy-body paint on canvas panel
Ready to frame


In response to my comments about my recent struggle, my dear daughter reminded me that it is fitting for Holy Week. She is so right. I cannot really find the words to express how homesick I have felt for seeing my Savior face to face. The reading I have been doing, and my preparations for Easter have just brought those thoughts closer every day. 

This Holy Week painting focuses on the worshipful act of Mary in pouring her treasure on Jesus. I am especially moved by the idea of Mary offering such a valuable gift, and breaking the alabaster jar containing the perfume. It always kind of tugs at my heart to think of her devotion and worship. As I worked on how to express this concept, many factors played into my choices. The colors, purple and gold, are complements, and remind me of royalty and Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem just a week before He was crucified. There are hints of red, which speak to me of His death on the cross. I used gold leaf (though it is very difficult to see) which represents the enormous value of her gift. 


What really surprised me was how this work ties back to several of the previous Easter works I have done. It has a lot of the same movement and similar shapes to what can be found in Victorious!, and has the same color concepts as Last Supper (and Homesick, though that was not painted for Easter). I am intrigued that, without realizing it, I have expressed similar concepts in similar ways, though it has been a while since I painted these other paintings. 

Mark 14:3 - 9 While He was in Bethany at the house of Simon who had a serious skin disease, as He was reclining at the table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of pure and expensive fragrant oil of nard. She broke the jar and poured it on His head. But some were expressing indignation to one another: “Why has this fragrant oil been wasted? For this oil might have been sold for more than 300 denarii and given to the poor.” And they began to scold her.

Then Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why are you bothering her? She has done a noble thing for Me. You always have the poor with you, and you can do what is good for them whenever you want, but you do not always have Me. She has done what she could; she has anointed My body in advance for burial. I assure you: Wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told in memory of her.”

I have done quite a few paintings during Holy Week over the years, and some of them are very meaningful to me and others. I will link several of the blog posts at the end of this post. I think they would make good devotional readings for this weekend.

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