This one was a surprise to us. We did not have a forethought of it but we always bring extra supplies. It was the rainbow background we did first-took about 5 minutes. People said the loved watching it. Then the gems came. Lynda and Lori worked on it together.

After several hours of working on the Lion I felt compelled to paint people rising up and almost clinging to him. They were stretching out their arms to be closer to him. It seems that they were hanging on to go for a ride. I saw the kindly aspects of the lion-father. But I am reminded of the line in C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe one of the four children asks, referring to Aslan the Christ-Lion, “Is he safe?’ The answer…  “Safe!  Who said anything about him being safe?  Of course he isn’t safe.  But he is good.” (my paraphrase)-

That’s our Lord, too. We must not think of him as some domesticated, de-clawed and polite, kitty.  He is none of those things.  There is only one reason we can approach him and know him…that we can cling to him.  The reason being, he indeed IS good. – Lori Vafiades

Hosea 11:10 They shall walk after the Lord, Who will roar like a lion; He Himself will roar and [His] sons shall come trembling and eagerly…(Amplified)

Watercolor is the medium for this piece. The keys are on ribbons coming out of heaven. Lynda did most of the work on this piece with Lori adding a few touches while Lynda worked on the eyes of the lion-which Lori needed help with. To see the completed piece visit Lynda's Gallery here on the site.

Painted at a woman's retreat in beautiful Vail, Colorado. Lori painted the ladies at the retreat into the painting. "I even drew some women in prior to arriving at the retreat. Women came up and said thanks to me for including them in the painting. I had never met them before. I love when the Lord does that!" The Talit represents the authority of the Father. The arms of the Father gather the chicks. The women are free from all pain, fear, suffering. The Father dances over them with joy. Please note the young lady kicking her wheel chair aside. This precious church stands in belief that this sister will walk on this side of the grave. "I stand with them-I painted it didn't I?"

Artists were each asked to paint a piece live at the 3 hour prayer vigil.  Lori Vafiades and Patty Higgs each prayed and got two visions.  Each piece was completed with transparent watercolor and some ink on 300 punch Arches cold-pressed paper.

Stan Kellner, Messianic Jew and author, opened the evening with prayer. He started the evening by pointing out the amazing significance of the two paintings. The oil and the wine, the Unity of the Body and the Spirit of the Lord.

the fruit painting was based on Psalm 133. "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious oil upon the head, running down on the beard, the beard of Aaron, running down on the edge of his garments. It is like the dew of Hermon, descending upon the mountains of Zion; For there the Lord commanded the blessing- Life forevermore." This man is praying using the tassels of his prayer shawl, called a Tallit. As he prays, the oil of unity is pouring down his head and off his beard onto his prayer shawl and hands. The words highlighted next to him is Yachad, the Jewish word for unity. The picture represents the unity of the Lord with his children, the unity of the saints with one another and the unity between the Jews and the Christians under their one God. Traditionally, oil represents the Holy Spirit. True unity can only be achieved through the Blood of the Lamb of God through His Holy Spirit. Many people were touched by this symbol, including some Messianic (Christian) Jews who were present.

Lori had the vision of grapes and the vine with the verse from Micah 4:4, "Every man will sit under his own vine and under his own fig tree, and no one will make them afraid for the Lord Almighty has spoken".  (NIV) 

 This painting was lightly sketched in first and the calligraphy was done during the few moments before the meeting began. Participants were invited to come and add paint to the piece. Lori provided a palette of bright, fruity colors and gently instructed and encouraged the over 50 participants of the painting.

"For a while no one would come up to participate. This type of worship was new to most in this group. Then I walked over to the guest speaker and took her hand a walked her back to the easel. She picked up large brush, filled it with bright red and painted a leaf on the very top of the paper. It stood out the whole evening and later the worship leader said it looked like a tongue of fire.