The Swarms / Songs of praise
Title: "The Swarms / Songs of praise" (2022)
Size: 40x40"
Acrylic ink dyed kozo collage, paperclay, and mica powder on canvas
From "O Mirabile Mysterium," my body of work illuminating Genesis 1. This work explores Day Five of Creation, when God created the creatures that inhabit the heavens above and the waters below.
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Then God said, “Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens.” God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good. God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day. —Genesis 1:20-23 (NASB)
How foolish the man who does not raise
His voice and praise with joyful words,
As he alone can, Heaven’s High King.
To whom the light birds with no soul but air,
All day, everywhere laudations sing.
—Anonymous monk (old Irish), trans. W. H. Auden
O Lord, how many are Your works!
In wisdom You have made them all;
The earth is full of Your creatures.
There is the sea, great and broad,
In which are swarms without number,
Animals both small and great.
There the ships move along,
And Leviathan, which You have formed to play in it.
— Psalm 104:24-26
Oh God of the swarms, your birds and sea creatures reach heights and depths that no naked man can. Though their minds are unlike our own, you gifted them with lungs and gills filled with primordial notes of praise. Such creatures prove that your sustaining life is the only required element for praise. In the quiet before you formed mankind, you invited the first winds and waves of worship to cascade over your creation. Even some fish join together in choruses of watery exaltation at the rising and setting of the sun. I marvel in wonder at such songs and sonar, free from all pride and shame.
I am astonished by the range of sizes, shades, and sheens in the seas and skies—some feathers and scales are petal-bright, flashy as flowers in midsummer, while others are somber as the sky before a storm. Your creation flaunts a many-hued display; homogeneity has no part in your divine design.
I contemplate the tiny chickadee, huddled in the pine outside my window in the winter wind, dipping her black cap against the gusts as she forages for food. She searches among the drifts for your extended hand—enough for one more day. Oh Lord, I pray that you would give me the faith to search for your outstretched arm—enough for all my days.
On this day you made the fearsome sea monsters, too, and birds with wingspans of two tall humans put together. As the Psalmist says, Leviathan is just another of your creatures, who you made to play in the waves. I need not fear the embodiment of chaos when you are the one who draws its boundaries and gives it freedom to frolic. What glorious wildness pours forth from your heart, Oh God, that you would make space for the most fearsome creatures to play?
The entire range of creation is your pallette—you commission both magnificent and miniscule to bring you delight. Leviathan cannot be tamed just as your wisdom cannot be contained by human understanding. And while I am limited, there are no heights you cannot reach, no depths you cannot plumb. Will you bring me soaring to the heights of your exaltation, and remind me not to fear the fall? Will you plumb the depths of this human heart, and contend with the chaos there? Oh, my God, inscribe your boundary on my heart , and make space for my soul to play.
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All artwork is signed on the back. Can be signed on the front at collector's request.
Keep in mind that paintings can look slightly different in person. I paint using a lot of texture, so they are even better when you can see them in person - it is hard to capture here!
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COPYRIGHT
Artwork is protected by copyright. All images displayed are property of Kelly Kruse. The sale of original artwork does not include the sale of copyright, including rights to reproduce or license imagery. All rights reserved.
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