Two turtledoves or two young pigeons

Artist: Brooke Melchin

Our home teacher, Brooke Melchin, is the artist on the cover of a Christmas card he gave to us.

The card celebrates the following passage from St. Luke: “when the days of her purification ... were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord; to offer a sacrifice ... a pair of turtle doves, or two young pigeons".

The charm in the card for me is the celebration of a Biblical passage I rarely hear read or set to music.

I don’t know the medium Brooke used. I am guessing India ink and good quality parchment paper. The picture has concentric circles enveloping different images: a halo around Mary and the child, then one around the Holy Family, one around the other pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem, the last halo encircling the gate to Jerusalem.

I love the way I feel when I look at the walls of the city. I am looking from above and instinctively I lift my chin a little to see over the walls and down to the roof tops of the houses.

I don’t have much space left on my walls to hang another picture.  Still I designated a "frame shopping" event for myself, touching down at Pier I Imports, then Bed, Bath and Beyond, then at London Drugs, wanting just the right frame. Those tiny figures in the bottom left-hand side of the picture need to pop out.

I found the right one: clean, simple, white.

Kelvin will hang the picture as his good-bye to 2013 and as a hello to 2014.

 How is that for a good New Year’s Eve?

Happy New Year to all.

Arta