The Passion Tree

Remember this?

A puzzle started on a cold winter's day.

It's now done.

I put in the last piece.

It's finished

On another cold winter's day!

There's a story behind this puzzle. While in Branson, Missouri, my daughter and her family wandered into an art gallery at Silver Dollar City and discovered the beautiful artwork of Jake E. Dawson. I was delighted when she gave me one his puzzles during the Christmas season. As  you know from previous posts our Christmas this year was rather hard; Mr. H recovering from surgery and my dad falling and breaking his hip. Anyway, I did not get to open the box until January 2.  That night I began to sort the pieces; outside pieces from inside pieces. That is the way I work a puzzle. Outside border and then fill in the rest.

There's also a story in this puzzle?  Yes, "IN."  This puzzle is part of Mr. Dawson's "Seek and Find" series. Quoting him rather loosely, because I was watching a video, these paintings "challenge the viewer to look beyond just the obvious and look deep within the painting and find either a hidden message or hidden images that that might be tucked away in the painting." This painting called "The Passion Tree" follows the story of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation.



The bottom twelve ornaments on the Christmas tree illustrate events from the Old Testament and top twelve illustrate events from the New Testament. The one in the photo below depicts Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. If you look back up at the whole puzzle, the red ornaments down the center and across form a cross. There are three larger ornaments that represent the trinity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

The red garland represents the crimson thread of Jesus Christ woven through the entire Bible.

There are 33 candles, one for each of the years that Christ spent on earth in the form of a man. You can see a suggestion of Christ in each candle flame.

A star representing the glory of God crowns the tree.

Under the tree some people are walking in darkness.

Others are carrying the light.

Jesus is the light.

Those of us who have light need to share it with others.

It was quite enjoyable putting this puzzle together and watching as the hidden meanings appeared. If you'd like to see more of Mr. Dawson's work his website is:

http://www.jackdawson.com/.

Since the puzzle is finished, I guess I'll have to find something else to do this week while the cold wind is blowing outside!