During this time of financial uncertainty, I have been working on a project which,
from its’ meagre beginnings, has been multiplying daily.

I began by sending an email to a few friends asking for jars to paint on a large canvas.
These started to flood in, piling up in my dining room, on my front porch,
photos taped to the fridge and images saved on my computer.

The idea was not my own, but . . .
based on the story in II Kings 4 where a widow of one of the company of prophets asks Elisha for help. She was in debt and her creditors were coming to take her two sons as slaves.
Elisha asked her what she had in her house and she answered that all she had was a little oil.
He told her to go ask all her neighbours for empty jars then return to her house, shut the door,
and pour the oil into the jars.
This she did, and when she asked her son for one more jar and he said there were no more,
the oil stopped flowing.
Elisha then told her to go and sell the oil and pay her debts,
 and that she and her sons could live on what was left.

Soon I  realized that even one very large canvas would never hold all these images. I started to work on smaller pieces which included the gathering process, while allowing my imagination to be the oil.

This has become an ongoing series ... as long as the jars keep coming so will the paintings. I am amazed at the support and generosity of my community which is starting to extend far
 beyond my little village.

(Please contact me if you would like to send me an image of a jar to be used in a future painting)