Shalom, a Visual Word Journal, Part 8

"Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love.

Where there is injury, pardon

Where there is doubt, faith

Where there is despair, hope

Where there is darkness, light

There there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek 

to be consoled, as to console;

 to be understood, as to understand;

to be loved, as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive.

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

Amen"

- St. Francis of Assisi

In the facing pages shown above, I took artwork I had previously done, scanned and made copies, then added them as feature elements of the pages after the background was painted. For the original artwork, I designed the letters P-E-A-C-E and painted them on chunky 5" square canvases. The Shalom collage on the page directly above was made a number of years ago and I sometimes make this image into cards. The purple patterned strips were leftovers from another project. It seemed a little stark or lacking, so I cut squares of tissue paper and glued them down to add interest and movement to the pages. The final steps were painting shadows on the elements and writing the timeless Peace Prayer by St. Francis.