You can't fully tell in the pictures the way you can tell in person, on the left arm it says "EPH6:10-20" and then on the body and across the right arm it says "Put on the full armour of God" which is the gist of the verses that inspire you to understand that life is a spiritual battle against forces of evil. Putting it on is a literal action through which you are wrapping yourself in the verses as a form of self-protection.

When I ran my wearable art studio, "Think Outside the Store", I encouraged my students and customers to not be limited by mass-produced fashion but rather use their own ideas to personalize their wardrobe by making clothes themselves. I have always used found or re-used objects as inspiration for my clothing art, often refashioning old clothes to give them new life. As I was trying to think of ways I could do an amazing chalk board lettering piece to draw out the scripture, I happened to go into my closet, and this blue piece of clothing that was in box of "fabric things to make art with someday" caught my eye. I actually have no idea where it came from. My eye then caught on the pile of felt I had recently bought to make samples for someone who wanted to learn beginning sewing. Immediately I was inspired. I dropped the idea of using my chalk markers and instead cut out the letters of the main point of the scripture and sewed them by hand onto the blue felt-like material. I was in love with it, and immediately saw myself wearing it over a black dress with black leggings and high armour-inspired leather boots. The feeling of actually wearing the words is a beautiful experience that you really can't capture in a photograph, it is an artistic experience that can only fully be shared in person.

Spiritual warfare is real. There have been many times in my battle with depression/forces of evil when I have asked others for prayer and this verse with its imagery of the helmet, breastplate, shield and sword have come up. So when I saw that it was the theme of this particular art contest, I had to apply. It has actually been a long time since I found joy in making clothing art because when I tried to do it for money, the joy was sucked out of it. I decided after my sewing studio closed because I couldn't make a living out of it that I was only going to make art for God, when I was called to do so. It has been a rough journey at times since then, and I have actually focused most of my artistic time on drawing, lettering and digital artwork rather than sewing. However, this project inspired me to make and love an article of clothing, which is something I haven't done in some time. It is a needed reminder to me as I am rebuilding my faith to always wear the full armour of God, as life in this world truly is a spiritual battlefield. Part of wearing the full armour of God is to be true to the spirit and the call that he gave to me, and for me that will always involve seeing and making clothing as a form of artistic expression.

Sarah Gingold stitched the letters and coordinated the outfit. Janet Gingold took the photographs.

Original. Contact skgingold@gmail.com to purchase. Make me an offer.

Sewing instruction, chalkboard lettering, digital artwork, tshirts.