"I AM the True Vine"

The last one in the set!  This whole set was an amazing confidence booster for me.  I really didn't believe I could do it.  And sometimes I'm still stunned that I did!  I know this is a little out of context, but I love this verse in 2 Corinthians:

"Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God."

That's my ability to paint, all wrapped up in one sentence.

"I AM the Door"

 

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this one!  It was not without it's serious angst, though!  I think I painted it....hated it....and painted it all over again.  The lighting on the spruce tree was a beautiful surprise to me.  I was trying to put in some definition, but standing so close to the canvas, using not much color variation.... I really had no idea how it was turning out!  It wasn't until I was finished and standing way back that I realized that I really liked it!

My favorite part of this?  The shadows across the snow.  I love it when God enables me to copy Him.  It's a specific kindness from Him to me.

"I AM the Light of the World"

 

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't seem to get a straight  picture of this one!  The lettering really is level, honest.

I love this one.  I'm still not sure how I got that jagged edge on the leaf, and I have no idea how I mixed the background color!  Again, the kindness of my creative God!

"I AM the Resurrection and the Life"

 

I was thinking of the Hayman Fire when I painted this one.  It was a ginormous fire that blew through just north of town several years ago.  Even now, the hills are scarred and generally grey.  Every spring, though, there's fresh growth.  It's a stunning reminder of how God brings life out of death.

" I AM the Good Shepherd"

This is my least favorite of the whole set, but I've heard from people that it's their favorite!  Go figure!  I won't tell you what I hate about it, in case you're one of those who like.  No need to rain on your parade!

"I AM the Way and the Truth and the Life"

 

I love that I don't know where this path goes.  I think the painting needed to express that...that we need to rest in the fact that our Savior is trustworthy.  We don't have to know all the details of tomorrow.  Really, we don't.  He is TRUSTWORTHY.

"I AM the Bread of Life"

 

In 2008 I did a set of canvases for our church based on the "I AM" statements that Jesus made.  They all have an aspen tree theme (fitting for the mountains of Colorado).  I used a spray gun and my hubby's air compressor to paint them.  The lettering was done by hand.  The canvases cover some sort of sound-absorbing panels that are on the sanctuary walls, so they have to be changed out in between Sundays, which means that I painted these in a week.  At the time, the gym at the church wasn't used very much, so I spread out in there with lots of tarps.  I had help with the lettering, or I wouldn't have gotten them done!

Funny story:  the spray gun that I use has a tiny filter in it, about the size of the end of your pinky.  When I switch colors I have to wash out the whole she-bang.  There was one time when I wasn't careful enough, and the filter went wooshing down the drain!  Aaaiiiggh!!  There was a man who I hardly knew in the church that day (he has since become our youth pastor!), who went to great lengths trying to find my filter in the pipes under the sink, but to no avail.  I ended up going to our local auto parts store to buy a new spray gun.  It came with TWO filters, so now I have two complete guns, which makes switching colors a whole lot easier!

When we took the canvases down early in 2010, I rolled them and stored them, thinking we could re-use them at a later date.  The problem is, in order to keep costs down, I use house paint, which is not very flexible.  When I went back to look at them a few months ago, the paint was completely cracked.  So these canvases have gone to the DUMP!

There were 7 total, so I'll post them for the next 7 days.  This one was one of my favorites.