Grafted In

A visual representation of the grafted olive tree from the allegory in Jacob 5, this piece also represents my personal grafting into the church; the scriptures that were instrumental to my conversion, the support and nourishment I received from members, and the blessings that have resulted.

Further Explanation of Artwork

This piece is a representation of my own ongoing story. At first glance you see the olive tree built from many different pieces. As in the allegory found in Jacob 5, the tree, or vineyard, represents the body of the church. As new members are baptized they are “grafted” into the whole. The branch on the right holding the marbled stone is my branch. This represents my joining to the church body.

The dimensional pattern is of an abacus. The “beads” are positioned to represent the number 9,024,569 (the total membership of the church in 1994, the year I was baptized). If you were to reposition them to count the beads that are turned (the vertical ovals) you would show the number 300,730 (the number of convert baptisms in 1994). These numbers are reiterated on the frame as a reference.

I am so honored to be counted among the membership of the church. The marbled stone is used in both of the above numerical representations as well as representing the number one – for my own baptism.

In the allegory, the servant of the Lord nourishes the trees of the vineyard. Likewise we are nourished with the word of God. Upon close inspection you will see selections from Jacob, chapter 5 (the allegory of the olive tree); Alma, chapter 32 (faith is like a seed); and Mosiah, chapter 18 (baptisms at the Waters of Mormon) make up the hill the olive tree sits on. If the church as a body stays rooted in the scriptures, it will be strong.

Please know that I did not use actual pages from any book of scripture for the art piece. I used images printed from a computer.

But I didn’t just want to tell of my conversion. I wanted to use the contest as a way to direct people to the church and to share the gospel. To do so I hosted a giveaway contest on my blog. To enter the giveaway visitors had to go to the church’s website and view last year’s contest pieces, then return to my website and leave a comment stating, in one word, what they thought was a great thing of God. I then encouraged my readers to email others about it.

Written upon the leaves are all the comments I received from my giveaway contest and emails. They represent the great things of God and the blessings He has bestowed upon His children.