A Painting Is Done

I do not paint as much as I want to, but I did get a Painting done recently. I love how it turned out. I titled it Let Love Loose.

Watercolor 22x30

My newest painting, LET LOVE LOOSE - Voice of Justice
In beginning this painting, I wanted to portray the action of True Love being released without the use of traditional symbols such as hearts. I pondered, I prayed, I kept a watchful eye for weeks for anything that would ignite in me on how to do this. In worship service one night, I was entranced by how beautiful the dancers were worshipping. God spoke to my heart, "You let Love loose by dancing with me in worship. That is the Armor I am giving. In worship, the voice of justice reigns and the captive is set free." So began creating a dancer who symbolically portrayed us releasing God's loving justice to the world. The greatest act of Justice was the death of Jesus and the greatest act of Hope was His resurrection. The dancer's dress was once my old art rags and I overlaid them with metallic paint symbolizing that the old is now new revealing the Glory of God. Looking closely, you can see the outline of the world behind her. I carefully brushed essential oils over each continent praying as to what oils to use symbollically. I love essential oils and the beauty of their ability to aid in emotional healing. This is what God revealed to me to declare his Justice and love over each one. North America- White Fir- The Oil of Generational Healing, New Zealand and Australia- Citrus Bliss- Oil of Creativity, Greenland- Wild Orange- Oil of Abundance, Europe, EurAsia(Russia,Ukraine) - Melissa- Oil of Truth, Asia(China, India, MiddleEast) Oil of Purification, South America- Cypress- Oil of Motion and Flow, Africa- Elevation - Oil of Abundance and Joy. Symbolically, I "anointed" the continents in prayer and oils. Tears rose up in my heart and overflowed into my eyes and the heart of God revealed itself of what he wanted for each continent. For hours after I literally cried over the earth and things revealed in my heart. The dancer holds a turquoise ribbon swirling freely around her and I chose this color because Turquoise represents the heart of God communicating to the spirit of man. The verses written on the ribbon are about his justice and his unfailing love. They include Matthew 23:23, Zech. 7:9, Isaiah 1:17, Psalm 99:20, Luke 18:17, Job 37:23, Psalm 140:12, Isaiah 51:4-5 and Psalm 106:3. When justice and love are released, hope bursts forth from heaven like a fire igniting us to bravely dance in worship setting the captive free. -Melissa Carter

"HIDDEN" My Newest Painting

“Hidden” Watercolor/Mixed media by Melissa Carter 20x30 

“He rescues her from hidden traps, and shields her from deadly hazards. His huge outstretched wings protect her... under them she is perfectly safe.” Psalm 91: 3,4 The Message (paraphrased)

The beginnings of this painting began in my head at least a year before it ever made it to paper. As my heart began to be stirred about the issue of sex trafficking and the children and girls who were lost in a world of hopelessness, I began to pray that they would be sheltered by Him. I believe my paintings stir the heart of God to release angels and people to set the captive free. My creative gift has purpose. It gives visual to what I see is happening in the supernatural. It brings awareness to stir others into activation to make a difference.
Hidden represents Jesus sheltering a lost girl. The blanket she is wrapped in represents the ethnicities of girls who are lost inside of sex-trafficking as well as the robe that Jesus offers as a beauty covering. In her darkness, He slips in to protect her and cover her with His Might powerful Wing so that she is invisible to the enemy. I found Psalm 36:6-8 that verbally demonstrates this.

Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,
your justice like the ocean depths.
You care for people and animals alike, O Lord.
How precious is your unfailing love, O God!
All humanity finds shelter in the shadow of your wings.
You feed them from the abundance of your own house,
letting them drink from your river of delights.”

The oranges, reds and yellows represent the life and fire that can be restored to a girl who no longer knows hope. The metallics in her hair represents the glory of God that she is crowned with. It is how God see her, a princess created in his image filled with hope, purity, and promises.

Upon finishing the painting, I knew it wasn’t quite done. There was a power element missing. As I was sitting and pondering over the painting in my studio, Kim Walker’s song came on, “I Still Believe”.
The words, “ Right now, your blood takes away the curse... Right now, your blood sets the addict free... Right now, your blood mends the broken hearted.... transforms my mind... brings the dead to life. I still believe... Your Love is sufficient.” moved on my heart and I knew I had to portray the blood of Jesus as the power source of these girls’ salvation.
With my heart pounding, knowing I could potentially ruin the painting with what I was about to do, I splattered red paint to symbolize the power of His blood that washes away the lies of the enemy. Even more crazy I stamped LOVE over all the enemy’s words because I know that LOVE never fails. That’s it. LOVE wins their hearts.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!! BLACK FRIDAY SALE STARTS AT MIDNIGHT!!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Melissa Carter Creations BLACK FRIDAY AND CYBER MONDAY SALE starts tonight!  Be a part of giving orphans in Nigeria food and school fees and giving two adoptive families a deserving vacation!

I found some CAFEPRESS PROMO CODES to use on top of the sale. 1& 2 expire the 25th of November. 3&4 expire December 31st.

1. BUY 3 ORNAMENTS, GET ONE FREE!  11AFF301F

2. BUY 2 TEES, GET ONE FREE!  11AFF2T1F

3. SPEND $100, GET $10 off     FAB

4. SPEND $75, GET $5 off         GREAT

You can check out the details here at another blog post

Thanks Bunches! Melissa

ONLY 7 DAYS LEFT!!!!

VALUE: $500 22x24

“When they cry out to the Lord because of their oppression, He will send them a Savior and Defender and He will rescue them. “ Isaiah 19:20

I NEED YOU to help me. I can donate my art and you can support others who are physically involved in taking care of the LEAST of THESE.

Melissa is donating the proceeds to help a family who adopted from Uganda. Visit http://melissacartercreations.com/gpage14.html to learn more.

ABOUT THE PAINTING:

"DEFENDER AMONG THEM"

I think three things inspired the conception of this painting.

First, of course I was wanting to portray a message about the fatherless and the motherless.

Second, were the techniques of some of the works of Gustav Klimt, the famous Austrian Symbolist painter of the late 1800’s and early 1900’s.

Third, was the Jesus figurine in my collection of nativities from around the world.

I began thinking about the timelessness of God. He has always been here. “ …He was and is and is to come.” “Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever.” Revelations 4:8, Hebrew 13:8.

When these babies, these children, are abandoned, are rejected, and are hurt, He is there throughout their lives. Jesus is their Defender Among Them. He may not be noticed among them, but He is there. When they cry and hurt and are lonely, He is there.

He cries along with them, He hovers and protects them. He knows their name.

Each baby in the painting, has a word or phrase written in a native tongue of their country to portray the promises of the Defender.

Starting at the top of the painting, they are:

Chinese - I am chosen

American – I am loved

Hispanic – I am protected

Thai - I am safe

Swahili – I am known

Russian – I am wanted

Arabic – I am free

Hindi – I have hope

Jesus- Hebrew – I AM LIFE

ONLY 7 DAYS LEFT!!!!!!

Melissa Carter Creations will match up to $250 of donations received.

HERE IS HOW YOU CAN HELP:

You can win an ORIGINAL painting of Melissa's as well as some Giclee prints and Christmas Ornaments with her art work on them.

A $5 donation will enter you INTO THE DRAWING

DEADLINE IS FEBRUARY 4, 2010 , NOON CENTRAL TIME.

Melissa Carter's artwork is known for portraying images in watercolor that send a message about the least of these.

Her artwork has earned numerous awards and has been exhibited in several places. She is the adoptive mother of 9.

8 of them are internationally adopted.

The Grand Prize Winner will receive this ORIGINAL painting. It will come with a Certificate of Authenticity.

1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners will receive one of the 11x15 GICLEE PRINTS shown below which will also come with Certificates of Authenticity.

The 4th and 5th place winners will receive a Christmas Ornament with Melissa's art work on them.

BUY YOUR TICKETS TODAY.

ONE TICKET - $5

TWO TICKETS - $10

FIVE TICKETS - $20

You can buy tickets through mail to

Melissa Carter / KU PROJECT

313 Harris Dr.

Florence, AL 35634

OR

Email me at kdcarter@mac.com if you want to purchase tickets by credit card.

If you want to purchase by Paypal send to kdcarter@mac.com - label as KU PROJECT

Blessings, Melissa Carter

The Promise

ORIGINAL WATERCOLOR $375

As Christmas season rolled around I was thinking about what God had done for us in sending Jesus to us. I wanted to depict it but in a different way. I determined that I wanted the Angel in his majestic Glory to be the many colors of the rainbow which of course symbolizes God's promises to us. His Promise of a Savior came to fruition through the birth of Jesus, his son into this world.

Along with that came the promises for every child who a mother holds in her arms. We inherit those promises. We inherit the Angelic protection and the inheritance of a Kingdom.

A New Painting: AFRICAN MANGOES

I just finished a new painting: Right now I am calling it " AFRICAN MANGOES." You can see a larger photo of it at http://melissacartercreations.com
ABOUT THE PAINTING:
Mangoes are a very common and staple fruit in Africa, so this painting is representative of Africa. I also wanted to bring about awareness of the orphan situation and awareness of HIV/AIDS, so I have done that by adding an element of texture to the leaves. There are approximately 48 million orphans in Africa alone. 12 million of those orphaned are orphaned by HIV/AIDS. Every circle on the leaves represents an African orphan and every red circle further represents an orphan left alone by HIV/AIDS. There are approximately 2000 circles on this painting. That is less than 1/2 of the children that became orphans in Africa today. My hope is that every time an individual looks at this painting that they don't just see mangoes but that they see orphans affected by HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and poverty. My hope is that they will not only see the need but will be motivated to do something about it to change it for the better. To change the life of a child.