100 Day Project 2021

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

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:

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!

13 comments:

  1. I love your documentation of your puzzle! So lovely. I'm not much for jigsaw puzzles but my daughter is. I just find I don't have the patience. Good on you for doing what you enjoy!

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  2. Fun - with the extra challenge of a puzzle within a puzzle! Stay warm!

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  3. oh how i love puzzles...the only problem thought is that i can sometimes get completely sucked in and lose all track of time. kelsey will say to me, 'momma step away from the puzzle!'. :)

    i love this one though with all the hidden messages. and i can't think of a better way to spend time on these frigid winter days. awesome work! :)

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  4. What a wonderful puzzle!! Beautiful!

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  5. What a wonderful gift and a very special message.

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  6. How interesting to read all about this puzzle, Cathy. It's so full of religious and spiritual meanings. The colours are beautiful too. I like seeing all the close-ups of the different elements of the puzzle. The blues are particularly lovely.

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  7. What a treasured gift to receive. I am going to look at the website now. We usually do one big puzzle a year, always in early December.

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  8. I'm like Kelly - when I have a puzzle in progress, I lose track of time and have to force myself to stop for necessary things like eating and sleeping! I really enjoyed reading about this one.

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  9. I would think that putting together a puzzle like this that has hidden meanings would be even more fun...It's beautiful puzzle and I really like that the hidden elements are spiritual...Great puzzle for kids to learn more about the Bible...

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  10. That is really a cool puzzle. I don't have the patience for putting together puzzles but my mom just loves them.

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  11. I like the idea of special messages within a puzzle. How clever!

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  12. What a fun project for you -- so nice that it has such special meaning for you too. Doing jigsaw puzzles can be very relaxing.....we do one every summer when we are on vacation.

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Thanks so much for stopping by!!