Wednesday, May 11, 2011

The Orchard by LindaLMartin Begins a Tour of Virginia Churches to Raise Awareness of Poverty and to Raise Money to feed the Homeless

The Orchard

Donated to Teens Opposing Poverty by Artist Linda L Martin

The Orchard is a unique modern day interpretation of the story of Jesus and the Children in Luke 18:16 "But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God." The painting is set is an apple orchard, very similar to those found in the Northern Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, which is famous for its fruit orchards.



Facts about the Painting:

*The painting is painted on canvas using acrylic polymer paints.

*The painting is approximately 24 by 36 inches.

*The painting took approximately 560 hours to paint over an 18 month period of time.

*The style of the painting is Folk Realism

*References for the face of Jesus are a composite of images of 5 traditional Jewish men from the area of Israel where Jesus would have lived. The artist acknowledges that no one can really know what Jesus looked like when he walked the earth, but those who have received his gift of Grace will recognize him when he returns.

*Artistic license was used on all of the individual children in the painting and none is a representation of a real person living or dead. Instead the artist wanted to share the variety of cultures and races represented in God’s creation, not as separated by ethnic boundaries, sexual segregation or diversity of experience, but as that commonality that is the American experience.

Touring the Painting:

The painting will tour churches in Virginia who support or are involved with Teens Opposing Poverty beginning in May 2011 with Culpeper United Methodist Church. The purpose of this tour is to allow people to see the painting before it is to be auctioned to raise money to feed the homeless and support the other activities for Teens Opposing Poverty. Teens Opposing Poverty also has plans to offer prints and note cards of the image.

If your church or organization would like to host the painting to raise awareness of poverty, and help Teens Opposing Poverty to accomplish their purposes contact here: email: contact@teensopposingpoverty.org or by phone 866-955-6260



About the Artist:

Linda L Martin is an independent artist and writer living in the Piedmont of Virginia. She is most well known for her equine, Virginia country life paintings and her animal portraits. Her Current project is to paint one living wild horse a day 5 days a Week for a year in the Mustang A Day Challenge. Ms Martin holds a BA in Fine Art from Stetson University and has been painting in Virginia since 1979.

Her website is: www.LLMartin.com