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This was an assignment at the university a few years ago. We were challenged to create a symbolic self portrait with a still life set up.
The broken fawn is glued back together. It represents my broken life of abuse and foster homes, as well as the abandonment from my first husband of 13 years. God just keeps putting me back together!
The horse statue is colored the color of a horse I owned at the time, and represents the love I have for animals.
The hat is my wedding hat, and it is for the joy and love that Robert Barr has brought into my life.
The shells and rocks are from places I have lived, California, Minnesota, Montana, Hawaii, Guam, Florida . . . I moved every year as a kid and sometimes changed schools two or three times a year. So I would pick up something small that I could keep from many of those places.
The wildflowers are because my boys, Zac and Kyle, used to pick weeds and wildflowers out of the backyard, which always needed mowing. They always wanted me to put them in a vase, which I did, even if they didn't smell so great. Those are good memories.
My first mother-in-law lived half a block away. She loved sending flowers (mostly roses) home with my boys for me. So I added a rose for her, and for love.
To me, the rose is also a promise of the Almighty's faithfulness to cleanse us from our wrongs and cleanse us of the wrongs done to us. Somehow as a child, I thought that the evil done to me made me evil. But God has shown me that we are like roses that do not wither or die. Our spirits are eternal. When we trust in Christ our lives become unique in him. Our Creator pursues us with his love. Only He makes us righteous in our spirit so we can be with him.
The angel means business! He is for my belief that God must give us each many mighty warrior angels to help us through this sin-cursed world! I believe they fight for us regularly. Because of Christ, we can keep forgiving, loving, and trying. We no longer have any excuse to give up.
By the way, my younger son, Kyle, draws warrior angels and he let me use one of his drawings for this angel. I added a serious face, and Kyle posed for the holding of the sword.
I love this painting. I love the colors, the details, and the powerful meaning it has for me personally.
