Do Justice, Acrylic on paper, Marcia Carole
Today, late in the day, I finally began painting my hands. Since I have cancer, no one really checks up on me to see if I have a real job. I can just hear it if they did, “Hi Marcia, How is it going over there with your cancer?’ “Oh, fine. I’m just painting my hands.” “Well, Good. Have fun! Be in touch.”
As I add layers of color to my hands, I remember when I painted children’s hands for special Mother’s Day projects. It is fun, and I highly recommend it. Rarely, a child would be mortified when his or her hands were being painted, but he or she seemed to overcome these fears once the imprints were made on fresh paper by the Mother’s Day poem.
I am using the collage/mixed media technique to make visual art in response to Micah 6:8 which reads: He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. I’ve swirled paint with my hands on red painted paper to design the heart I’d like to use for the second part of the verse. Nothing is glued down, but here is what I have so far.
Love Mercy, Acrylic on painted paper, Marcia Carole
Tomorrow, I will be painting my feet in order to create the third panel. (Hopefully, no one will call to ask what I am doing to fight cancer. “Hi. Well, I’m painting my feet.”) I hope to have a bit of movement with them, but I am still working on how to do so. One year, I painted children’s feet for a parent gift, and that was a bit harder for some to step into, so to speak. Now, I am getting a taste of what I put them through.
As I paint, I think I need to have my hands, heart and feet available to the Lord to join Him in bringing justice and mercy with humility into difficult situations or dark parts of different people’s stories, caring for those without a voice. Rather than judgement, I need to grow in extending mercy, really love being merciful, just as Jesus loves being merciful to me. This is my Father’s heart for all people.
