I think I'm finally done with this assemblage. It has been sitting in my studio about 90% complete for a few months now. I kept thinking I'd set aside an afternoon to finish it, instead I worked on the finishing touches little by little each evening this past week and wha-la! I'm done!
This is the second assemblage I've done using an antique cuckoo clock case as the foundation. I love the house shape and little windows on the side.
I found this half round cast iron disk shape thing at a flea market in a basket of junk. I excitedly paid 50 cents to a puzzled looking vendor. I was even more excited at home when I washed away the grime to reveal the details. I have no idea what it was used for but this little camera lens fit perfectly. I've collaged a hand rubbed bit of text from an antique book to the glass lens. The word "Faith" is a theme I have been meditating on over the past few months while my husband was unemployed.
This piece overlaps a couple of themes I've been exploring during this season of storms. It is the fifth installation in my "Tree of Life" series, in which the tree represents the Cross and the sacrifice Christ made, through which, we can have eternal life. But the Tree of Life is not just about an eternity in heaven, it is about Christ providing for us here and now.
I love the way the branches curve over the couple praying in the background in a sheltering, protective way.
I had another picture picked out to collage onto the antique mirror, but I rubbed a hole through it. When I found this one and I knew it was meant to be here.
One of the many blessings that has come from this season for my husband and I, is that we started praying together nearly every morning. In the beginning, ever the optimist, I prayed eagerly asking for bold things from God. Midway through, there were days when we each could barely pray. Sometimes I would just sob on my husbands shoulder as he prayed.
But things began to change as we persisted in our prayers. Not in the circumstances, but in the hope and the peace that we felt. We have been through so much more then I have written in these posts, but by the time the oven broke the week before Thanksgiving, The deer ran into the car the week after, and the plumbing backed up just the other day, we couldn't be shaken.
"He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit." Jeremiah 17:8
"Are not two sparrows sold for a penny ? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father."
"So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows."
The storm is finally passing. I can feel it. Things don't look exactly like I thought they would, but I know God is still working out his plan. His ways are better then our ways. He has the complete picture from beginning to end. I'm already praising Him for not answering some of my prayers. My husband started a new job this week. He took the opportunity to change careers and is now training to be a manager in a field he will be much happier in then before. I will continue to work so that he can do this, and the silver lining to that is I will be able to afford to take several art workshops this year!
