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Artists:
Roger Palmquist
and Eric Palmquist
Title:
The Crown of Christmas
Size of Piece:
6” x 10”
Medium:
Pen and ink
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Rough lines outline a humble stable scene where the birth of Christ is celebrated by lowly oxen and sheep. As Christmas draws near we reflect on those early moments when the silent night was broken by an infant’s borning cry. The upper portion of the drawing captures a feeling of dirt roads, scattered hay, and an unfinished story. The coarse lines and jagged edges of the lower portion reveal Christ, beleaguered and wearing a crown of thorns.
Clinging to the innocence and beauty of birth, we often forget that his entrance into the world is only a portion of the story. The natal night shoulders the burden of being a bookend to a darker night of crucifixion. The gift of Christmas was ultimately Christ’s death. We celebrate the whole of Christ’s story, because it is the whole of our story.
About the Artist
Roger and Eric Palmquist are both graduates of North Park Theological Seminary. Roger served as a Covenant pastor and executive director of Pilgrim Pines in Swanzey, New Hampshire. Eric is currently the senior pastor of Wolf’s Covenant Church in York, Pennsylvania. Roger drew the first half of this Christmas scene before he passed away in 1992. His son, Eric, completed the drawing two decades later.
The Companion is currently accepting submissions or nominations for our Expressions column for 2018.
If you are an artist or would like to nominate a Covenant artist we should profile, please send a high-quality image of the artwork, a description of the piece (including the title, dimensions, and media) from the artist, and the artist’s church or Covenant connections to editor Eric Palmquist at eric.palmquist@hotmail.com.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
