The Branch of Jesse

This painting was originally created at a show in Minnesota. I did not sell this piece after the show, and naturally this made me question my ability and decision to be an artist. I have had weeks of healing from what felt like rejection and now understand that my worth is not in what I create, but in the reason I create. I am an artist because I was made to be an artist, not because of anything that I have done. The inspiration for this painting comes from Isaiah 11. This chapter is about the Branch from Jesse (a direct descendent of Jesus), and it says that this branch will come up from a stump in the ground...basically life is growing from something that is dead. In my painting, I represented this with the broken buildings in the background. Even in the midst of lifelessness, new life is growing. As the chapter goes on it explains that the branches of the tree will extend across all nations and it will cover over us - it is our banner and our sign of peace in the roughest and most deserted times in our life. I am so thankful for Jesus and the peace and comfort that he extends over me in my times of despair.