The Fruit of the Spirit

I've been working lately on a new small series of paintings based on the Fruit of the Spirit that we read about in Paul's letter to the Galatians in chapter 5:  "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  Against such things there is no law."

I don't think anyone can disagree that we're currently living in some volatile times.  It's ugly.  It's divisive.  And it doesn't appear as though it will get better anytime soon.  I think the most important part of this short verse from Galatians is the part where Paul says, "Against such things there is no law."  This means that the fruit of the Spirit is more than simply theoretical concepts that sound nice for an idealistic, perfect world.  These are things we are supposed to be practicing every day, and if we don't we're contributing to the chaotic ugliness and lawlessness of society.  These aren't suggestions.  They're commandments.

Beauty is such a hard thing to define.  But if anything, I hope my work is a representation of beauty and inspiration for others.  With this series, I'm going to try to paint each of these nine words listed as the "fruit of the Spirit."  Obviously they are all broad words and can mean a lot of different things.  So I'm simply letting the Spirit lead me in each one as I visualize and conceptualize the images for each painting.

So far I have completed two of the nine.  As I consider them, I've found myself returning to a certain mood of calm and stillness that I had in my figurative works some years ago before I began my God-Breathed series, which were a far more bold direction visually for me.

Patience
oil on linen
24x18"
2020

Gentleness
oil on linen
30x24"
2020

Currently, I am working on the next piece for the series, Love.  I'm still working on drawing studies for others, and figuring out the direction I want to go with them.  It's proving to be a challenge, but hopefully I will have the series completed by the end of 2020, or the beginning of next year as my show schedule continues to grow this year.

Please stay tuned for more as I complete new works for this series as well as other new paintings along the way.

As a reminder for my Kansas City friends, this weekend I will have work available in two shows - The "Scape" exhibition at Hilliard Gallery opens tomorrow, March 6th and continues through April 22nd.  Also, the Blue Springs Fine Art Show will be at Vesper Hall on Saturday and Sunday, March 7-8th, and I will have two paintings available in that show.

For more information on these shows, and all my work available for purchase, please contact me at ryandelgadoart@gmail.com.