The Church of Our Lady in Fleet, Hampshire, England just reached its centenary in June of 2008. To commemorate this grand occasion they held a Flower Festival that uniquely depicts the life of Christ.
I was greatly honored to have my painting, “The Passion Flower” selected to mark such a special occasion, half a world away, with it’s use of my piece on posters, leaflets, invitations, flyers and programmes.
“The Passion Flower” by Cherish Flieder
Painted on an Easter Sunday, God inspired me with this image that illustrates, in an ethereal way, the spiritual beauty that comes only through suffering. My desire was to juxtapose the classic symbol of the “passion” flower (as established by Spanish monks while exploring the New World) and the piercing crown of thorns in the background to fully realize a symbol of Christ’s identity, suffering and His reward in exchange for the ultimate life-giving sacrifice on the cross. With this act, not only did He take on our sins to give us true life, but He also comforts and promises us to bring this rare beauty to our hearts when we experience sufferings of many kinds.
Today I was honored to be the “Visiting Artist” to the Illustration department at Rocky Mountain College of Art & Design. It was a blast spending time with this group of very passionate and talented students and we talked about web design and marketing for illustrators. They best part was that I feel like I connected with each one on a different level as I did my best to open their eyes up to some new possibilities in web design. I know if they use some of my advice they can position themselves in the online world in order to benefit their art careers and stand heads and shoulders above their competition. I truly hope they will keep in touch.
For more info on RMCAD’s illustration program, visit: mcad.edu
I want to share with you a VERY special family tradition that has become the most meaningful part of gift-giving at Christmas.
Each fall, Operation Christmas Child (lead by Billy Graham’s son, Franklin Graham) organizes the coolest way for ordinary people to do something extraordinary in the life of a little child in a far away country. They send out palettes of shoe boxes, packed with love and donated by caring people, and give them to needy children all over the world.
The children who are lucky enough to get a shoebox filled to the brim with toys and art supplies and necessities have been very unlucky in life. They distribute shoe boxes to children that live in poverty (like the dumps of Guatemala), sites of natural disasters (like Katrina and Indonesia), war torn villages (like Sudan) and hurting communities in the the farthest reaches of the world . . . they have even been to Timbuktu!
A simple gift such as a shoebox filled with special gifts from you will be the only gift a child might receive for Christmas this year. In fact, it might be the first gift they have ever received in their lives! And it is such a simple hands on way to help out a hurting community and a little child you could have never otherwise touched.
Things that are common place and quickly overlooked by most American children are treasured for life by children in other countries. It is a great way to get our kids, nieces, nephews, and little cousins involved too and teach them the meaning of helping others.
