"According To The Dove On Far-Off Terebinths" by Courtney Weger Cantrell

February 2006 (put on the final touches in June 2006).  The title comes from the introduction to Psalm 56 as translated in the English Standard Version of the Bible--even though there are no terebinths in the painting.  ;o)  When I read the short intro, my mind combined the image of the dove with the images of tears, book, and bottle described in verse 8.  This painting is the result.

As is the case with all of my paintings, this one turned out different--and, in some ways, better--than I had imagined.  I am particularly pleased with how the "3d" tears turned out.  Actually, I'm really pleased with most of the elements in the picture.  This was my first time to paint drops of liquid; first time to paint a bird; first time to paint a book; and first time for a candle, too.  Halfway through completion of the painting, I absolutely despised the candle; but after I'd irritably added some globs of paint for dripping wax, Mr. Candle and I suddenly started becoming friends.  We're on quite good terms now, I daresay.

Some who are reading and viewing this know the tears I have shed lately, and why.  You'll understand what a great comfort it is to me to know that God has saved up my tears and keeps record of them, comforting me even as they fall.

In case the quotation isn't legible, it reads:  "You have kept count of my tossings, put my tears in your bottle.  Are they not in your book?"  --Psalm 56: 8

For those who might wonder how this image qualifies as fantasy, please note that the glass bottle is actually emerging from the flat page of the book, as though by an otherworldly power.

Oil paint on canvas, 50cm x 40cm.

Uploaded July 2006.

You may not use this image for any purpose or alter this image in any way without my written permission.