David Arms' Bird Paintings

I came across the art of David Arms and fell in love. 

I was first drawn in by his renderings of our fair-feathered friends, 

in fact, I featured one of them on my post The Art of...Turkeys. 

Beyond the birds, my heartstrings were tugged when I noticed his addition of Scripture.

As if that wasn't enough, I learned about his intriguing use of 

symbolism to illustrate Biblical principles, and became an avid fan!

Here are just a few of the ways that David incorporates symbols into his art:

Fruit is the fruit of the Spirit, as outlined in Galatians 5- 

love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Birds are used to represent "us/everyman". 

He chooses the hummingbird in particular, which exemplifies 

our busyness, our fast-paced lifestyles, and 

our inability to rest in order to put our trust in God. 

How often do we glimpse the fleeting hummingbird in anything other than 

its state of perpetual, invisible-winged motion? Just about never! 

The Bible verse brought to mind is "Be still, and know that I am God." Psalm 46:10.

Perches are portrayed as being suspended by strings leading out of the top of the picture, 

as though God Himself is holding them from the Heavens. 

In an image of trust, we allow Him to support and sustain us,

just as the bird trusts the perch to support its weight.

Notice the unusual items that David uses as perches,
which, as he explains, are representative of our faith. 
Although our circumstances very often make no sense to us, 
we must continue to trust and to have faith. 

We read in Hebrews 11:1, 
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

You can see much more of David's inspiring art at his website.


>>This post was written with love for my friend Donna,
as we continue to learn to trust the Lord in all things.<<



Images used with direct permission from David Arms.