13-1/2 x 19-1/4 with border added $150. Can be hand gilded for $75 .00.

Painted in Mt. Airy, Philadelphia. © Me'irah Iliinsky 2006

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This painting was a commission for a woman who feels closest to God when she is gardening and has her hands in the soil. I wanted to affirm her experience of the Divine. The form of the painting is like a page of Talmud, except where the main text of the Talmud would be, there is the image of hands, lovingly placing a living plant into the living soil. The "commentaries" surrounding "the main text" are verses from Bereshit (Genesis) talking about God forming the Earth, and causing the grasses and herbs to sprout forth. Another selection speaks of God forming Adam—the primordial Earthling—from the "dust of the Earth," and breathing into his nostrils the breath of life. The third commentary below the main text is an excerpt from the poem, "Brother Francis speaks," by Donna Henderson, a poet from Monmouth, Oregon. Brother Francis tells Donna that he saw "God in that dirt" while burying two deceased brothers the previous week.