Jodee Huish, Alabaster Praise

Artist: Jodee Huish

Title: Alabaster Praise

Medium: Mixed media oil on birchwood

Dimensions: 30 x 30 x 2 inches

Price: $2,500

Artist Statement: “Don’t you know a leopard cannot change its spots?” That challenge was once given to Clinton Duffy, a prison reformer who believed people could change and begin again. He replied, “I don’t work with leopards. I work with men, and men change every day.” That is how Jesus sees us. He looks beyond our mistakes, labels and past to see a child of God with divine worth and eternal identity. He saw it in the woman with the alabaster offering. She was labeled a sinner. Others saw her past and thought they were better than her. Jesus saw her past, present and future, and through it all, her worth to Him was infinite and unchanging. Her broken vessel was the public breaking open of her heart. Christ yearns to heal us, bind us back together and make us His. But are we willing to break open our hearts? Do we trust Him with all our broken pieces? She showed us how. Not just to believe in Him, but to believe Him… that He came to bind up the brokenhearted. And that means you and me. She knelt in the dust and poured out everything she had. Praise Him with alabaster broken open. Praise Him with perfume poured out and pride laid down. Praise Him with every broken piece placed in His hands. Praise Him for mercy greater than every label. Praise Him for forgiveness that makes the brokenhearted new. “Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.” — Psalm 150:6Artist Bio: I believe the way we see changes everything. I’m Jodee Huish, a Christian artist and Word of God lover. What I paint, how I paint it and the color, materials and processes I choose are deeply intentional. Every layer participates in the message. My process begins with surrender in mixed-media abstraction. I pour, drip, scrape, layer and blow paint across the surface, allowing beauty to emerge from chaos. I look closer, responding to what is there and building meaning layer by layer. Whether painting portrait, butterfly, broken vessel or still life, each piece testifies of a pattern I see in scripture, nature and life: Creation. Fall. Rebirth. Christ taught that our greatest work is to love God and our neighbor as ourselves. To me, that requires intimacy… into me see. Letting God undo who we imagined Him to be and teach us who He is. Taking off the mask. Letting others see into our mess. Choosing to see more divinity than dust. Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, repentance and forgiveness make rebirth possible again and again. I see me. I see God. I see you. I am both dust and divine. You are both dust and divine. God is both infinite and intimate. I believe grace allows us to see ourselves and one another as both a work in progress and a masterpiece at the same time. The heart of my work echoes His intimate invitation: Come and see. Because what we choose to see transforms who we become.