I hope you enjoyed my last video, "Paint a Lion with Janet." I want to share a new one with you. My latest video is called "Paint and Ox with Janet." It shows how I approach painting one of my favorite biblical creatures, the ox, from beginning to end. I hope the video encourages you to try painting your own ox and expressing your own creativity!
Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe! Enjoy, — JH
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In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come." Revelation 4:6-8 Remember God's holiness this season, and his awesome power to make his vision a reality in your life! — JH
I just want to share with you a new project I am starting—I am uploading how-to videos of my paintings on YouTube. I've linked one of them below, called "Paint a Lion with Janet." It shows my whole painting process from beginning to end. I hope it'll inspire you to create your own personal lion painting!
I want to share with you a painting that took me awhile to finish. I tried for a long time to paint the four living creatures from the Bible, but for some reason I just could not do it. So when I finally finished, I was very happy, and I wanted to share it with you all. It's called "The Four Living Creatures," based on the passage from the Bible: “The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.’” (Revelation 4:7-8) These four living creatures are a reminder of the glory of the Lord, which endures forever. I hope you will experience the everlasting glory of God in your life this season. The two horses in this painting are chasing after the glory of God. They run hard and fast—see the steam coming out of their nostrils! They are together, and so they never tire in their race to reach the glory of God. Just like these horses, we are called to run with each other as we chase after glory.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:1-2) This painting is about justice in God’s kingdom. The Lion of Judah proclaims justice over all the earth. The sword here represents the word of God—justice in every human society should be based on the word of God. This is a season of change, both in the government, and in your own life. It is time for a new start and new beginning, and a new direction. It is also time for a new justice. Whatever your political beliefs are, remember that this is a time for great change, and that the word of God will bring a new sense of justice to the world during this season! I want to share with you this painting of mine, which is quite simply the reflection of Jesus in water. This image came to me once as I was thinking of Jesus. In nature we can see Him all around, as He is in all creation. I was really focused on Jesus and how He looks.
The classic paintings of Jesus are not accurate and always seem to cause doubt that we can truly imagine what He looks like. If we open our heart to feel and see Him, we can sense His face in all creation, because he is the in all the universe, His creation. From our human perspective, how can we see the universe as we are living on the earth, which is just a part of the Milky Way solar system belonging to a larger galaxy in the universe? It goes on and on, as the universe is unlimited. Thus we cannot see how the universe actually appears from our small perspective; it’s impossible. In the same way, to behold Jesus is incredible, as he is bigger then all the universe! In all creation there is much light, vivid color and life, so when we want to see Him, we must catch a glimpse of Him through His creation. I looked at Monet’s painting Water Lilies and it was truly beautiful—Monet truly captured the water’s reflection so well, and when I saw his painting I felt like I was seeing Jesus in the water. That is what inspired this painting. So from that moment on I do not doubt how real He can appear to us, because I can see Him shining through everything. I challenge you to behold Jesus through nature everywhere, such as in a sunset of all different colors, or even in a friend’s eyes. I look at the sky and can always find birds flying or singing in trees, and sometimes I can spot a hawk or eagle. People keep their eyes fixed on these birds once they spot them, just watching them because they are not common. People often feel a hidden longing to have the spirit of the eagle. Eagles fly high and represent great boldness. They signify the king of the air and inspire awe. Even when I see a picture of an eagle, I feel like I am small because they truly reveal authority like a king. It makes people shrink—not in terror, but in awe. In this picture the girl is jumping to the sky with the spirit of the eagle, relying on her faith. She has a dancing veil scarf to change the atmosphere, which she twirls around in freedom. The eagle is catching the fish and this represents blessing and our destiny. I painted this painting to encourage people who want to make a leap of faith for their own destiny. This involves overcoming our circumstances. I meditate on the action of a leap of faith and I feel like we all long to take that action. It is just like jumping into the deep end of the water. With a leap of faith, nothing is guaranteed. It is like a great adventure in this way. We make the jump, just going for that leap. Always, when making the leap, there is fear, but the difference between the girl in this painting and many others is that she overcame fear through the leap, while others don’t take the risk. Our prayers and praise to God always change the atmosphere and something big ready to happen. Then when we do go for it, there is always a reward, just like the fish, which is His blessing that comes to us. "Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you." (Isaiah 60:1) There is much significance surrounding the rooster. Roosters have attached to their identity the dawning of a new day. They remind all those around them that it is time to rise and shine. In this way, they may be likened to a pioneer spirit. They start the day by calling out in the darkness to usher in new beginnings, making the darkness flee and giving way to the light.
Another part of their identity are the beautifully vivid colors of their feathers. The rooster’s colors absolutely distinguish him. Colors have meanings of their own and you may find you identify with certain colors, as we all have a colorful identity innate within us from our Creator. He makes us unique with our own voice and color. Finally, notice the stars, which signify hope for the dream in your heart. Looking out into the stars always changes our perspective and makes us want to reach for more. — JH Everyone loves flowers; no one can deny their beauty and delightful fragrance. They always remind me of a special fragrance I once encountered. I want to share with you the painting that came out of this encounter and the story that goes along with it. Just imagine this: I was in a conference sitting in the back. I was so tired, and it was a stormy, rainy day. It just so happened that a big man came with in with a big, wet dog and sat right beside me. Imagine the wet dog smell! I was sitting at my product table and here the owner and his wet dog were sitting right beside me and the smell was like that of mildew. I was unhappy and too tired to go on. Up on stage the pastor was preaching about the fragrance of Jesus. And there I was, smelling wet dog and mildew. Needless to say the message wasn’t really touching my heart and I wanted to go home. But suddenly, I smelled the most fresh flower scent in the world coming through all the other scents around me. My circumstances were not fresh. Yet cutting through it all came this incomparable fresh fragrance. Sometimes I try to test the fragrances at perfume shops and I attempt to compare them, but I can’t find anything like what I smelled that night. Sometimes a fresh spring day smells like fragrant flowers, and it always reminds me of the fragrance of Jesus. Yet still nothing compares to Jesus. Even on a fresh day there are lots of scents in the air, but none like the pure fragrance of Jesus. The Holy Spirit comes in the midst of any circumstances we may be in and it is for us to trust and believe in God, knowing that He is there—anytime, anywhere. We can smell his fragrance even when our circumstances are not fresh. — JH |