The King & His Court

This month has been monumental for my family, our daughter graduated from college and we are celebrating her accomplishments.  In the midst of all the excitement, I have still been keeping busy working on a few new gourds. 

One of these has been over a month in the making of a pride of lions.  I had been wanting to do a big lion gourd for a while, and perhaps have it be part of a series of gourds with a theme of animals from the Bible.

There are many references to lions in the Bible,  both figuratively and literally.  Lions can be a symbol of evil; "the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour" (1 Peter 5:8) or a symbol of supreme good, Jesus, "the lion of Judah" (Revelation 5:5)

My inspiration is more literal as these verses point to God's provision for His creation.​ I was reminded of a passage in the book of Job.  In a whirlwind God speaks to Job and basically puts Job in his place! The Bible reference is Job 38:39; "Can you hunt the prey for the lions, or satisfy the appetite of the young lions, when they crouch in their dens or lie in wait in their thicket?"  ​And then I remembered Psalm 104:20-22; "You make darkness, and it is night, when all the beasts of the forest creep about.  The young lions roar for their prey, seeking their food from God. When the sun rises, they steal away and lie down in their dens."

As He cares for the lion, the "king of beasts" we can also notice provision for the small creatures, the sparrow, the ravens, the rock badgers.  These and more will be upcoming in future artworks, I am excited about this theme!  

The title for this is The King & His Court, but I am not completely sure if that is the title I want to keep.  Others I thought of are, Reliance, or Expectation, or The Humble Pride.  Which one do you like?