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From the Easel: Hidden Treasure

  • Deborah 

Isaiah 45: 2–3 says,

“I will go before you and make the rough places smooth;
I will shatter the doors of bronze and cut through their iron bars.
“I will give you the treasures of darkness
And hidden wealth of secret places,
So that you may know that it is I,
The Lord, the God of Israel, who calls you by your name.”

It is the Lord who calls us by name. It is the Lord who gives us our identity. One day as I was pondering these verses with Him regarding our God-given identity, He whispered that we, His children, are the treasures and hidden wealth. He will shatter doors of bronze and cut through their iron bars in order to reach us, His treasures. So that we will know Him, our Creator.

We are God’s hidden treasures. So it comes as no surprise that I selected this painting, titled Hidden Treasure to represent chapter 6 of the book and the journal. This chapter is titled Created For So Much More IDENTITY: Completing Your Passport.

Like the blossoms that jumps off the canvas in this piece, you glow and stand out when you operate in who God created you to be.

Hidden Treasure was inspired by a photograph my son took as he hiked through a rain forest in Puerto Rico. There in the shadowed underbrush stood a sunlit flower! Thus the tropical nature of the foliage surrounding this hidden treasure.

This is a painting where I didn’t layer every inch of the piece. In fact after washing the canvas with a green gold, I left some areas free of any other layer of paint. That helps bring the three dimensional look of the rain forest.

The flowers are heavily textured to “pop” from the canvas. I used paint mixed with gel medium and applied it in heavy layers to create the petals. For these particular flowers I used a palette knife that is no more than a quarter of an inch wide, but two and a half inches long. Tools matter. Knowing and selecting the right tool for the job is one of those elements that sets an experienced artist apart from the novice.

Hidden Treasure is a part of my personal art collection and adorns the walls in my condo in Florida. It brings the tropical nature of the Florida mangrove into my home.

Hidden Treasure
©2011
36 x 18
Acrylic on Canvas

Artist’s Collection