Shirley, Goodness and Mercy

Shirley, Goodness and Mercy

‘The more I worked with it, the more I liked the idea of God’s grace as three sweet teenagers following me around.’

Shirley, Goodness and Mercy. © 2017 Barbara Gadon. 16 x 17 inches, acrylic, magazine papers, charcoal, gel crayon, tissue paper.

Shirley, Goodness and Mercy. 16 x 17 inches, acrylic, magazine papers, charcoal, gel crayon, tissue paper. (© 2017 Barbara Gadon)

© 2017 Barbara Gadon

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Part of a series she based on the 23rd Psalm, the Rev. Barbara Gadon writes of this collage: “I know UUs who love this Psalm, even if they struggle with the language, the notion of God as shepherd, and—heaven forbid—people as sheep. The images run deeper than that. I meditated on each line, moving past the first images of sunsets and doves in search of surprises. With ‘Shirley, Goodness and Mercy,’ it started as a pun, but the more I worked with it, the more I liked the idea of God’s grace as three sweet teenagers following me around. The figures are based on a photo of three girls in Haiti.”

The whole 23rd Psalm series is at fineartamerica.com. Prints are available for purchase; images are also available for a small, one-time fee for worship services and bulletin covers.

Gadon lives in St. Louis with her husband, Robert. She is lead minister of Eliot Unitarian Chapel, passionate about racial justice, and is thriving after a double lung transplant.

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