Three Trees Triptych: Rebellion (Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil), Redemption (Cross), and Reunion (Tree of Life)

Three Trees is a work I had been considering for a few years, lacking any photographic resources from which to draw. There are three major trees in the story of God and man. Sure, there are other trees, like the fig tree that Jesus caused to die because it wasn’t bearing fruit, and the tree that temporarily shaded Jonah while he fought the Lord, but none so impacted the fate of mankind as the stories of man’s fall, and Jesus’s offer of salvation, and the promise of eternity in Heaven with God. The possible exception is the burning bush, and it’s not technically a tree, and deserves its own painting, and at any rate, I wanted to stick with a triptych to reference the Trinity.

The first painting is The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, the catalyst by which Adam, and through him, mankind, fell. This is The Rebellion. You can see the two pieces of fruit at the base of the tree, each with a bite removed from it, representing the Original Sin. The serpent wrapped around the trunk, returned to the scene of his crime, of course represents Satan and his power over mankind in this life.

The second painting is The Tree of the Cross, the site where Jesus took the pain and punishment for all our sins in order to offer to us a way to salvation, to avoid damnation, to return to our right relationship with our Father. This is The Redemption.

I chose to depict the cross as a more naturalistic form that still harkens back to the tree from which it was constructed. Researchers have found that sometimes when finished timbers were in short supply, crucifixions were actually performed upon olive trees outlying the city, along the road as a warning to ne’er-do-wells. This tree is not the proud, straight cross often shown as the instrument of Jesus’ death; it, like Him, bows in humble obedience. At the top of the Cross is the sign with the inscription, “King of the Jews” in three languages: Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. At the base of the Cross is a dogwood sapling, long symbolic of the Cross in our own culture with its four blood-stained petals. It is indigenous to neither here nor Israel, but is native to the Mid-US from which the artist harkens.

The third painting is The Tree of Life, which was removed from the Garden of Eden when man sinned, so that he would not eat of it and remain in a sinful state for eternity – thus giving him the chance to accept God’s gift of salvation and receive the reward of eternity with Him and all the kept promises of Heaven. This is The Reunion. The massive tree reappears in New Jerusalem, growing either side of the River of Life, which flows from the Almighty’s throne, bearing a bounty of twelve fruit and grains every month for the partaking by residents of this Holy place. Fruits depicted are not listed verbatim in the Bible, but research has given the artist a good guess with the Seven First Fruits and other plants native to the land at the time of Jesus’ life on earth among us. The Tree’s leaves heal the nations, represented by the City’s many architectural styles.

This triptych tells the story of God’s relationship with mankind in a succinct summary of major turning points, of mercy, discipline, and grace. It is told in the context of a Protestant Christian viewpoint of pure scripture in both the Old and New Testaments. The format of the paintings abstractly suggests Gothic stained glass windows and mosaic works (akin to those in cathedrals) to which my work was often compared even before this series; they are rendered in pigments derived from minerals of the earth onto canvas woven from plants of the earth by a human who was ultimately the result of another human rendered by God from the earth. I am honored to share the action of creation with my Creator, and joyful to share His Message and Promise with you.

 

– L. Eilee George

 

Prints of these works are available through special order. Contact the artist directly here.

See better pix of these works in THE GALLERY

Read about the entire series here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

All content on this site © 2013-2018/present L. Eilee S. George; all rights reserved, except where otherwise noted.