Raw Umber

We are stones skipped over a frozen lake. Skeetskeet then stop. The sky holds its breath and sighs, it's steamy snout spraying icicles in the air; daggers that fall on the frozen lake. Ice on ice collide like shrapnel. I wait for the frozen lake to become unfrozen, the way chicken defrosts in the microwave on five minutes HIGH. If I were frozen underneath the ice, face up looking at the sky, I would beg the sun to stretch its arms just a bit further, just a bit further. But maybe just a bit further is too far. Its flames will engulf me and scorch me until all that's left is charcoal dust. Maybe I need to get over the sun. Through my ice paned window the world is fractured--a broken jigsaw puzzle of distorted colors and shapes. So I wait for the crack, the thaw that drips life into my frozen limbs. I wait for the skipped stone to collapse into water, to sink down slow.

One man

He’s forgotten the refrain
Jesus saves!

-Embracing Accusation, Shane and Shane



So this was a lot of fun, if a little belaboring to try and get all the details right. I wanted to parallel the two apples and use words to capture that through one act we were separated from God, but through one death of Jesus on the cross, we are restored to a right relationship with Him. The repetition of the apple becomes a kind of symbol for our hearts. Sin is our human nature, a part of us, but when we accept Christ, we are changed and given an entirely new heart. Everything is outwardly the same (note the same setting for each apple), but at the same time everything is different.

The verse in the background of the 'sin' apple is a verse from Genesis three during the fall, when God tells Adam and Eve that there will be enmity between husband and wife, animals and humans. In turn, the verse for the 'joy' is John three "For God so loved the world that he gave his only son." Aesthetically I like how the green apple turned out better, because of the way the light hits the carved out letters, giving them a more three dimensional appearance. The lighting for the red apple is sepia, warmer and (I hope) more inviting.

Needless to say I ate a lot of apples today, haha.

One bite

The father of lies
Coming to steal
Kill and destroy
All my hopes of being good enough
I hear him saying cursed are the ones
Who can’t abide
He’s right
Alleluia he’s right!

-Embracing Accusation Shane and Shane