The first thing I did here is divide the canvas into sections. Then I took different mediums (oil pastel, colored pencil, markers, watercolor, acrylic) and made a different pattern on each section. The patterns remind me of different parts of the world, and different styles and perspectives. We are divided as people in so many ways, geographically, culturally etc. and we see our world very differently.
Then I painted over the sections with primary colors in a light wash that still showed what was underneath. The primary colors are colors that all other colors are mixed from (red, yellow and blue) They represent the most basic elements in the world that "color" our perspectives on what we see and experience, even when we live in the same culture, or pattern. The same color covered two different sections, but the results were so different as the colors combined.
Lastly, I wrote the word unity over the top and I filled in the letters with different skin tones. Skin tones are mixed with the same basic brown, just different added combinations of black, blue, red, yellow and white. The shadows on the different skin tones are each different mixes as well. I meditated on how different the tones are, yet, how they are from the same ingredients.
In the end I feel like it came together like a quilt! This little painting is a prayer of mine for unity in the midst of diversity. Especially on the cusp of a very divisive election year, I am praying that we can #reunitetheunitedstates after the election is over and focus on working together toward our common goals instead of hating on each other! I am going to be praying harder for unity from now until Christmas!
"God please help me appreciate differences in people, so I can get a bigger glimpse of the beauty of your world! Please bring peace and unity after this election. Let voices of wisdom and peace be heard above those who would lash out in anger and dissappointment. We know YOU are in control of kings and nations and rulers and the course of this world. Let each of us have KINDNESS and LOVE in our words and actions for all people, especially those who are different than us, those we disagree with and those who are hard to love. Give us your supernatural grace to give to others."
Will you pray with me for the post election fallout? Comment below and let me know if you are willing to pray with me for unity for our nation in the coming months after the election.
-Deborah King