The Meaning
“Sacred Heart/Beast in the Way” was originally inspired by Psalm 24:3-4 which says, “Who may climb the mountain of the Lord?” I related well to this scripture because of my many experiences hiking the Colorado Rocky Mountains when I was attending college at Colorado State University.
Eyes of Christ
At top center are the eyes of Christ looking down upon me when I am attempting to climb up the metaphoric mountain of God by Faith.
Beast in the Way
Unexpectedly, I come face to face with a leopard (representing the devil) that shows his teeth and growls ferociously at me and scares me to death and stops me in my tracks.
Protection
An Arcangel to the left of me puts a sword to the head of the leopard and does not allow him to devour me. There is also another angel to the right of the mountain, and he draws a sword to cover the back of me.
Danger Ahead
Above me, the mountain has erupted, and lava is flowing down, which indicates even more danger, and I now question whether I want to go any further up because I am stricken with the fear of my own relational issues destroying me.
Sacred Heart
As I continue to look up, I see a Sacred Heart with a crown of thorns around it, burning with passion and desire for me to receive His Spirit (the dove) coming down towards me. Doubting I can ever move forward, I see His wounds on each hand with one of them holding the world in it, symbolizing his sovereignty over the evil in it. This gives me assurance that now, I do not have to be afraid to continue to go forward and trust in Him no matter what has happened to me in the past or present.
Four Living Creatures
Around Christ is the four living creatures (Revelation 4:6-8) that are seen by John in a vision. The eagle faced creature is intensely focusing and illuminating the earth with his eyes to help the humans of the earth understand the redemption of His Master more clearly.
Sea of Glass Mingled with Fire
There is sea of glass mingled with fire on top of the mountain along with the four living creatures to represent the victory of finally being in the throne room of heaven, where one would want to be with Christ, after being led by Him through a long and arduous journey on the earth. This is part of John’s vision in Revelation 4:6 and 15:2.
The “River of Fire” piece was done right after this “Sacred Heart/Beast in the Way” painting was completed.
Another piece, titled “Angels and Demons,” is similar because of the internal spiritual conflict that true authentic believers experience while on the earth.
The Process
An important color scheme concept I learned from this piece was how well lighter colors popped so much better with a darker background. You can see this well on the bottom of the painting with the large green grass brush strokes from the mountain.
This piece was the one that convinced me that I had the ability to be an artist and to was inspired to continue creating new sketches and learning how to blend “hot and cold” colors together. I am still learning and progressing in this same way today, and the contrast and depth perception are very important to me in my works.
Also, during the creation of this illustration, I realized that I could create from my subconscious mind, and it could possibly have a spiritual effect on others around me who were open to it.