The Lion and the Lamb
As we approach Easter, we are reminded of our faith in God, and our belief in Christ, that he died for our sins and is the Son of God. The true “Lion and the Lamb” passage is Revelation 5:5–6. The Lion and the Lamb both refer to Jesus Christ. He is both the conquering Lion of the tribe of Judah and the Lamb who was slain. The Lion and the Lamb are descriptions of two aspects of the nature of Christ. As the Lion of Judah, He fulfills the prophecy of Genesis 49:9 and is the Messiah who would come from the tribe of Judah. As the Lamb of God, He is the perfect and ultimate sacrifice for sin.
For Easter this year, my daughter, Sarah, asked me if I would make a Lion and Lamb for her church for this Easter’s celebration of the Resurrection. I said “yes” and so began an interesting journey of creative discovery that I wasn’t sure I could accomplish, but was willing to take the leap and learn …
Oil on Canvas
20 x 36
Available HERE
As a professional artist in oils and pastels, I have always struggled with starting new paintings. And, since I am not able to paint currently (all my easels and supplies are in storage while we build our new home in the mountains), I needed to keep my mind creative, and thought I might learn a new craft.
So, one day, while on Facebook admiring the beautiful paintings of my artist friends in my newsfeed, I came across a post by an artist friend, Jessica, who decided to take up Needle Felting. She is undergoing chemo therapy for cancer, and thought this craft would keep her mind at ease while undergoing cancer treatments, as well as help her cope while at home healing. The needle felted creatures she created blew me away. I was so inspired, I reached out to her and she told me how she started and how I can start too.
With that information in my back pocket, I started researching Needle Felting, and even ordered about 5 books on the craft from Amazon. I’ve always been fascinated with needle felted wool creatures and creations. They really are incredible. I had no idea how anyone could create something beautiful from wool by felting the wool with a single needle; and so, I read, ordered a bunny kit, and watched videos about needle felting. I was like my inner child in Toys R Us in the Barbie isle! I read that I should purchase a 38 gauge needle for felting, and what types of wool I should get for different projects.
Making the bunny from the kit gave me my first understanding of how the felting needle actually manipulates the wool, binding the fibers together to create any shape I am trying to achieve. I was really clumsy with that needle at first, not knowing how hard or soft I should be stabbing the wool. I learned; and, before I knew it, I was completing the bunny with success.
Only feeling confident enough to have a kit of supplies and instructions from a professional needle felting artist, I looked online for hours one day, looking for a kit to make a black bear. I had this vision in my head of what he (or she) should look like, and was surprised that I could not find anything – no instructions, no kits, no nothing, for making a black bear sculpture out of felted wool. I had to suck it up and make a decision to jump into the deep end of this craft, and make the bear myself from what I had learned thus far from the books, online tutorials, videos, and my bunny creation. And so began my personal journey of learning Needle Felting, and creating something I never anticipated was possible with the little bit of experience I had – about 3 weeks worth of experience.
I pulled up images on Google of Gerry Bear. Gerry was a beautiful female black bear that lived on Grandfather Mountain here in North Carolina. She was a sweet and beautiful bear, and was under the care and protection of the Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation, having been orphaned at 2 months of age in Michigan, where she was born in the wild.
“Michigan wildlife agents, including expert bear behaviorist Lynn Rogers, hand-raised her for a month before they found a wild mother bear involved in a research project who would adopt her. The mother bear then raised Gerry as one of her own.”
The not-for-profit Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation
For a month, I worked on Gerry Bear, beginning with Armature (the wire skeleton that my bear will have as a foundation for the wool felting). I used my best judgment in determining size and structure of my bear. I even studied the black bear’s form, details of the actual skeleton of the black bear, facial expressions, and claws and foot pads. What you see above is the “almost” final core of the bear. I used a core wool batting after wrapping the wire armature (which is actually floral wire that you can get at Michaels) in wool that was rolled. The batting is easy to work with and shape with the felting needle. Then began the details from the black color to the facial features …
I finished my “Gerry Bear” and I’m proud of the resulting Needle Felted Sculpture. I even gave me glass eyes. I could not believe I actually made him, from my recliner no less!
That is when Sarah, my beautiful 29y/o daughter, with a Masters in Divinity, and who serves as the Minister of Discipleship in a small mountain town Methodist church, asked me to make a “Lion and Lamb” needle felted sculpture, to display at her church this Easter weekend.
Meet “Gideon” the Lion. Gideon means “Great Warrior” in Hebrew, and the Lion represents Christ resurrected.
The Lion is the symbol used in both Christianity and Judaism to represent the Messianic Age. In Christianity, according to a sermon by Augustine, the Lion stands for Christ resurrected, the lamb for Christ’s sacrifice (“He endured death as a lamb; he devoured it as a lion.”—Augustine, Sermon 375A).
Thank you for reading about my creative journey!
Now to make the Lamb …
