How to Paint a Simple Leaf Wreath Inspired by Plants Mentioned in the Bible.
Lately, I’ve been working on putting up quotes and reminders around the house. Earlier this year, I learned how to do brush calligraphy as well as how to watercolor so I wanted to combine these new skills with some scripture that I planned to hang on the walls.
The first quote I worked on was John 3:16.
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.
John 3:16
This is one of the most popular bible verses and for a long time I didn’t understand why. But one day, I was reflecting on my reversion that occurred over 15 years ago and suddenly the depth and meaning of the verse became apparent.
This verse is, ultimately, a way of life.
Years ago, as I was making my way back to God (but before I considered myself a practicing or believing Catholic), I started to realize that life was important, especially human life.
Sometimes, we think that love is the most important thing, but without life, we would not be able to experience love.
Seems like a no brainer, but the reality is that we are constantly being told in many ways in this world that life is not that important. There is a continually prevalent apathetic attitude toward life reflected in how casual death is made to be in everything from movies to music, news, books, games, etc. In this way, life is devalued and made to appear dispensable.
Additionally, we may even sense the importance of life yet at the same time we pretend that it is not as important as it really is.
Realizing that life was truly important changed my perspective on the world. I began to see how good life was and that I wanted to be respectful of it. I wanted to honor it in everything that I did.
Thus, a focus on continual ‘eternal’ life naturally follows an outlook that holds life to be of the utmost importance.
And accordingly, John 3:16 sums up the way of life as a Christian in this way: belief in God, Jesus, salvation, and respect for life.
Olive, Palm, and Fig Branches
Olive
I decided I wanted to paint a leaf wreath for John 3:16. I had just learned how to paint an olive branch so that was what I started with first.
But I am like a green olive tree
Psalm 52:8
in the house of God.
I trust in the steadfast love of God
forever and ever.
Palm
Then, I had the idea that I would paint some more plants that were mentioned in the bible. So I painted palm leaves next.
The next day the great crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting,
“Hosanna!
John 12:12-13
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord—
the King of Israel!”
Fig
The last branch I decided to paint was fig. This one was a bit tricky for me and I had to practice a few times before adding it to the wreath.
“From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. 29 So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates…”
Mark 13:28
The Finished Wreath
To add the scripture, I practiced first on a scratch piece of paper that had an oval I had printed from Powerpoint. This helped to ensure that I had right amount of words per line to fit inside the wreath.
And here is the finished product!
You can download a copy of the simple leaf wreath for free in my Free Resource Library if you are a subscriber. If you aren’t, sign up below and I will email you a link to download the wreath as well as the password to my library.
