“Desert Season”
Not by Bread Alone
The Artwork at a Glance
Just as our body needs bread, our soul needs the word of God to carry us through seasons in the desert.
Jesus knows the desert first hand. He sat in the burning heat himself, hungry and at his limit, face to face with the adversary. Yet Jesus resists, because he knows God's word so intimately.
The vines sewn into the canvas frame the scene like an embrace. They stand for the bond with the Father that does not break, even in the drought. The olives stand for the hidden spring the olive tree lives from. Its roots reach water that no one sees, and carry it right through the dryness.
"Not by Bread Alone" brings together oil painting and handworked textile detail into a warm, quietly urgent reminder: Jesus understands your struggles, because he lived through the desert himself. He looks the adversary in the face and still stays turned toward the Father. That same focus gives you something to hold on to when everything pushes for a quick way out.
80 x 60 cm | Oil and acrylic on canvas with 24 carat gold leaf, pearls and hand embroidery
It was in seventh grade…
A girl in my class told me on the schoolyard that she was reading her Bible for the third time.
The third time.
I was not a Christian back then, and I only replied that I do not read, and that I would not understand the Bible anyway.
Today I know what it is for. It is what I reach for when lies start to creep into my thoughts. About God, or about myself. Then I call to mind what is true. And I can only remember what I have read before.
For me, this is exactly what the temptation of Jesus in the desert shows.
Jesus is in the desert, hungry and at the edge of his strength. The sun burns, the stones lie at his feet. Right where the hunger is greatest, the simplest answer comes: a stone that could become bread. A quiet voice offers him something that wants to fill and seduce, and yet does not nourish.
Jesus stands firm, because he knows God's word so well. In the desert he brings out what has long lived within him, and speaks a truth that still reminds us today:
"Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God."
Three times the temptation comes. Three times Jesus meets it with the same answer: he quotes God's word, which he knows by heart.
I want a sentence like that to come to me in those moments, one I have read before. One that is stronger than the quiet voice with its quick solution.
From this thought, the work "Not by Bread Alone" was born.
The Fruit Is Known by Its Root
This is the moment when Jesus holds his answer up against the enemy's offer. Face to face with the adversary, he speaks a truth we can still hold on to today:
"Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God."
Every temptation begins as a thought. A quiet offer, a whisper that wants to settle in. And a thought is never harmless, because it is the root from which the fruit finally grows. What we think slowly becomes what we live.
Jesus meets this first thought at once with the truth he knows. That way the lie finds no ground to grow in.
This is the invitation of this work: to see the word of God as our daily bread. To take it in so deeply that it puts down roots and is there when we need it most.
The Desert Is Not a Place Where God Forgets You
In strong sun yellow and dry desert orange, Jesus meets his adversary face to face.
The embroidered vines embrace the scene and quietly whisper to you how this encounter will end. Jesus stays connected to the Father.
For the bare, stony ground I chose the fruit of the olive tree, which found its home on the canvas as hand embroidered pearls.
The olive tree stays green when everything around it dries up. Its roots reach hidden water. In the same way, Jesus in the desert was carried by a spring that no one could see. The same spring that gives us strength too.
This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin.
Hebrews 4:15
The Place Where Our Inner Hunger Becomes Visible
Jesus himself was led into the desert. The desert was the place where it became visible what he truly lives on.
The warm light, the bare expanse of the landscape and his calm posture show: even in the moment of greatest temptation, Jesus stays connected to the Father.
Jesus showed us that we live on God's word. And so this artwork is a reminder that we are carried in the middle of the test, when we hold on to God's word.
Like a Gentle Embrace
The sewn elements took more time than the entire painting.
The vines frame the scene like a hopeful embrace. Even when the desert looks empty, you are not alone.
The olive stands for the hidden spring that feeds Jesus, even when everything around him threatens to dry up.
So the pearls, the embroidery and the sewn textures form a gentle counterweight to everything that tries to tell us, in the desert, that we are forgotten or alone.
