The Breath of Life

It is from the book of Genesis that I draw my inspiration in creating this first piece in a series of paintings depicting the Garden of Eden. I enjoy giving the person who views my work “a mini theater for the eyes” - various vignettes that play, dance and calm - several paintings in one.

As I did in my last painting, “…no room for them in the inn”, I have chosen to utilize several elements of the painting in a symbolic way rather than camouflaging or hiding a character which I feel somehow makes it seem trivial. As Christ speaks to us in parables, there are messages much more powerful in the text than we may first realize. Albeit I have no brilliant lesson to offer like Jesus does, I am simply trying to capture a moment of divine essence - a subtle magnificence, a whispering shout of glory. This is not only how God manifests himself to us in our lives, but also in nature.

 I wanted to wrap Adam in this divine essence that is nature, to envelop him in it. As I staged this scene with Adam at its center, I was reminded of surfers I had seen while researching this painting. I wanted him to have the feeling of vulnerability as the surfer who could be engulfed at any moment by the huge wave he is riding, but I also wanted him to represent a confident survivor, an ambassador for humankind. I wanted him to represent one who can lead us through the passage of time with the grace of God.

 The seven white horses that gallop across the scene signify the seven days of creation and represent the breath of our Creator. One horse pauses as he glances toward Adam symbolizing God’s special love for us all. The eighth horse is a young colt; he brings the message that one day God will send his son to us to deliver us from evil.

 The lions represent the scientific belief that the dawn of man rose out of the continent of equatorial Africa. The lion cubs symbolize the races of man that became the offspring of the first humans. And it is this first perfect human creation that springs forward with special divine gifts, unlike the apes that stay toward the back in the trees.

God made man in his own image, without sin. This purity is symbolized by the cleansing water Adam sits near. The rock he is sitting on represents the foundation which will become God's church.

Lastly the three orchids Adam tosses into the stream are symbolic of the Holy Trinity. These three flowers will float to the sould for whom Adam longs, for the Lord GOD said, "It is not good for man to be alone." GENESIS 2:18,

As the lioness looks across the scene, love beckons. The story continues in my next painting. "And she will be bone of his bones and flesh of his flesh, we will be called woman." GENESIS 2:23

- Tom duBois