Jesus is THE Light of the World! In Him there is no darkness. He is and was the source of “Let there be Light”, in the beginning. How blessed are those of us, who have been born again through Him and carry His Spirit within us, to shine His Light into this world around us. We are carriers of His Light.
The passage I’m meditating on in this creative faith art make is Matthew 5:14-16.
You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden.
No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house.
In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.
In reading this passage my mind went to the Sunday School song, This Little Light of Mine. “This little light of mine. I’m going to let it shine… Hide it under a bush? Oh no!… Let it shine. Let it shine. Let it shine!”
This passage from Matthew’s gospel was the focus of Faith Fest 2025, an online Bible Art Journaling event, by Kim Pepper, that I “attended”—actually viewed in the background, as I worked through a busy week. 12 faith art teachers presented demonstrations of their artistic interpretations of this passage. It was so inspiring, to see each woman’s own unique art personality shine forth in their creations. They all Let it Shine!
I wasn’t able to take time to create alongside them. (I had other creations to get done—see upcoming post and social media.) But my own ideas were welling up in me, as I meditated while going about my daily tasks.
- I knew I wanted to use a large sunburst/ SONburst, with rays coming down through everything—Jesus as the source of all Light.
- I knew I wanted to incorporate a new Edison light bulb die, I’d recently got. And perhaps include the “world”.
One of the teachers, Jenna Burne, talked about light as the embodiment of all colors, and incorporated a prism-look, with colored “rays” coming from it. I decided my rays should be colorful!
Step 1
- The sunburst stencil I own was too small to cover my page, so I made a larger one—with my Cricut and poster board.
- I opted for muted pastel tones, rather than bright primary colors. And lightly blended Distress Inks through the stencil, with blending brushes. Squeezed Lemonade, Kitch Flamingo, Dried Marigold, Shabby Shutters, Tumbled Glass, and Shaded Lilac.
- I wanted to add some glistening to the light, so applied Distress Sparkle Texture Paste over the whole stencil.
Step 2
With Jesus as the all encompassing light, and us as shining lights connected to Him, the light bulb represented me—plugged into the Source of all Light.
- I used the Sizzix Vault Industrial dies, cutting the bulb out of a clear acetate packaging scrap and again out of mixed media card stock. The inner “stem” out of black cardstock, and the base and filament out of silver Metallic Kraft-stock.
- I wanted to use alcohol inks to color my acetate, but don’t have yellow Alcohol Ink. I used a couple Copic (alcohol) markers—Y04 and Y21, (just what I have,) and Sepia Tim Holtz Alcohol Ink from Ranger. I used the Copic markers on the mixed media paper, back of the bulb, too.
- I curved the acetate bulb by heating a bit with my blow dryer.
- Then glued the inner pieces to the back bulb. I used small pieces of double sided tape at the base, to adhere the 2 bulb pieces together and the base on top of them. (The acetate bulb is left unattached, except at the base.)
Step 3
My meditations had taken me to Matthew 28:19. Since Matthew 5:14 says we Jesus-followers are the light of the world, and we’re to shine before others, I thought of how we are commanded to go into the world and make disciples. My light is to shine for all the world to see Jesus!
- I used the Sizzix Vault World Travel die. Cutting the pieces from mixed media papers previously sprayed with Distress Ink Sprays, in blues, and greens, and silver—Brushed Pewter Mica Spray. The circle from the blues. The outline with longitude/latitude lines from the silver. And the continents from the greens. Then glued them together.
Step 4
In addition to my verse and reference, I wanted to include the words and music to the song.
- I typed the verse—in a font and size that would work well. Found a free-to-use image of the song, and resized it to fit the space I had for the sections I wanted to use.
- I added a yellow background/highlight to them, then printed and cut them out. I’ll add a Free Download in my Shop, if you’d like to use them.
- I edged all the pieces with Ground Espresso Archival Ink.
Step 5–Putting the composition together
I glued all pieces to my SONburst background with Distress Collage Matte Medium, my favorite adhesive, that works well even over Texture Paste. Drew in “cord” lines, connecting me the light bulb to Jesus the sun.
For a finished look, I also edged the whole page with the same Ground Espresso Archival Ink. And date stamped it (not shown.) I still need to attach it in my Journal.
I’m continuing to meditate on these passages, and want to make another page—or 2 or 3, with different focuses—perhaps following the teachers’ inspiration and processes more closely. Faith Fest 2025 is over, but you can still purchase the replays. (I’m not associated with them at all. Just an attendee.)
I encourage you to meditate on letting His light shine through you, to the world. And, as you meditate, allowing your creativity to flow through you, to make your own artistic representation of this passage. If you do, share it with us! Link below.
💖👩🏻🎨💖
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Living Coram Deo & freely whole
SDG!
~ Liberty—Life Restoration & Therapeutic Creativity Coach
Providing Soul-healing, beauty from ashes content through Creativity & Coaching—to empower you to live a life that is Freely Whole—spirit, soul, and body—in Jesus!
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