The Book of Daniel

I am currently leading a home Bible study through the intriguing Book of Daniel.  Its literary structure is a bit puzzling since the first six chapters consist of stories and the last six of visions. However, chapters 1 and 8-12 are written in Hebrew while chapters 2-7 are in Aramaic. The best explanation is that Chapter 1 is  written in Hebrew since it introduces the whole book while Aramaic is used for chapters 2-6 since they portray the Jews living in a foreign land. Before reverting to the Hebrew language for the universal messages of the last half, Chapter 7 was also written in Aramaic to help tie together the two halves of the book.

Feet of Clay (2004) (14 1/2" x 30")

mixed media on canvas

The famous story of the statue with feet of clay appears in Daniel 2 as part of King Nebuchadnezzar's dream.  This piece was quite laborious to prepare and included a background of collaged paper scraps soaked in dilute acrylic paint/glue mixtures combined with a central figure built up with metal foil, gilding and thick acrylic paint.  The final result is not at all satisfying and resembles a soccer player more than anything else.

Handwriting on the Wall (2004)

collage and acrylic on canvas

This piece turned out a bit better and was prepared by use of semi-opaque acrylic over a paper collage.

Behold, A Man (2004)

mixed media on canvas

The sky in this piece was prepared as in "Feet of Clay," with the rest formed with numerous small paper cutouts. The head is made of collaged polyurethane, and the translucent robe of the figure was added with an acrylic wash and gilt.  This collage pictures the start of Daniel's vision by the River Tigris described in Daniel 10.