The Time is Coming 36x48 Oil on Canvas
I recently found out that my painting The Time is Coming won the Galleries Choice Award at Contemporary Art Gallery in Annapolis, Maryland. I feel extremely blessed to be able to paint as I do and share my art with everyone. At first glance, a lot of people may not notice that a lot of my art is Christian based. I like to keep my Christian thoughts subtle in my work but this particular image is one of the more direct paintings. Study the image a bit and come up with what you think it means then read on to learn what I was trying to convey:
Ready? Here we go...
Revelations 16:16 calls out a place with the Hebrew name of Armageddon. It is said that this is the place where all nations will come together and battle Christ. Armageddon is translated from the Hebrew word Har Megiddo which means Hill of Megiddo. This was an ancient city in Northwestern Palestine, Southeast of Haifa in present day Israel. This name is depicted above the front door to this building.
Ready? Here we go...
Revelations 16:16 calls out a place with the Hebrew name of Armageddon. It is said that this is the place where all nations will come together and battle Christ. Armageddon is translated from the Hebrew word Har Megiddo which means Hill of Megiddo. This was an ancient city in Northwestern Palestine, Southeast of Haifa in present day Israel. This name is depicted above the front door to this building.
The building I chose to depict here is completely made up but in my design I wanted a building that felt solid, like a bank, older government building or something along this line. Surrounding the building I have added a few symbolic items to help tell my story. Here's what I included: Above the door you can see a United Nations symbol to push the idea of one government to rule all nations. The gold statue bust above the central portico is my depiction of a false idol, it is ambiguous on purpose. The gold front doors have tarnished to green to symbolize the decay of the building has started from within and is working it's way outside. The entry stairs and the column bases have not tarnished yet but when they do will it effect the buildings strength? The time of the clock is 3:06, or three sixes, the number of the beast. These numbers have been lifted up, but not in a Righteous way, but rather in a man made way with ropes. The clock is big and looms over the people below in a dangerous way. The ropes holding it up don't seem too strong or placed just right. Will it come toppling down on the people below? From the rear of the building, the destruction of the war has started and is depicted by the first plumes of smoke. The smoke is dark and thick to show it is man made synthetic items that are burning, natural items tend to burn with a white or grey smoke plumage. We see that people have begun to arrive at this place, possibly for help and protection, but the doors to this building are closed and must be locked. Overall, this painting is about a beginning of a very turbulent end of days where it may seem that all hope is lost.
But hope is not lost. To the right of the painting there is a statue of angels with the inscription of IXOYE near the base. These markings depict the Greek word for fish. It was this marking that was once used by a group of people to mark secret entrances to safe houses and places of worship. Within these places is where groups of people first came together to worship. They were the first Christians. The Greek word for fish was eventually replaced by a symbol in the shape of a fish that is still seen today, often on the back of people’s cars. I wanted to express that even in the direst circumstances there is always hope and maybe if you just open you heart, lift your eyes and look around the corner you just might find it waiting for you there.
Matthew 7:13-14 "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."
That's a lot to think about and to put into a painting. I would love to here what you all think. Did your first instincts about the painting express a note of destruction or a tinge of hope?
On a more personal note: I like to hide a "7" in a lot of my work. Can you find the seven in this painting?
Prints of this painting are available here: http://fineartamerica.com/featured/the-time-is-coming-larry-reinhart.html Many sizes are available and the prices start at only $17.
The Original painting can be seen in Riverside, CA. Here is the link to the current show: http://www.artscaperiverside.com/
Take care,
Larry
Matthew 7:13-14 "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."
That's a lot to think about and to put into a painting. I would love to here what you all think. Did your first instincts about the painting express a note of destruction or a tinge of hope?
On a more personal note: I like to hide a "7" in a lot of my work. Can you find the seven in this painting?
Prints of this painting are available here: http://fineartamerica.com/featured/the-time-is-coming-larry-reinhart.html Many sizes are available and the prices start at only $17.
The Original painting can be seen in Riverside, CA. Here is the link to the current show: http://www.artscaperiverside.com/
Take care,
Larry
2 comments:
Amazing
What I saw, before reading through the awesome narrative, was a pendulum clock (like the time ticking clocks). But this one was more ominous -- due to the size, the double-metaphor of the clock being the weight on the pendulum, and that this almost looks like a wrecking ball.
Time is the most consistent factor in the universe, and while it seems like this could be a renovation of a clock tower, I fall back to the pendulum, where it is inevitable that time will crush or damage us in some way (like the decay of the building).
The smoke makes me think that there is past damage, as if the clock had already hit the building. And yet, in the uncanny persistence that us humans possess, we insist on saving on the building.
And then the finale! This seemingly destructive, dark tone is contrasted by the sharp light, coming in behind the clock.
My theories start to fall down, though, when the shadows aren't quite as ominous as my interpretation implies. But that's my first reaction when I saw this painting in person.
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