Artist bio

Born and raised in Dominica, and has been drawing since the age of 12. She is also a self-taught artist who is very passionate about drawing and painting. This passion all started with an innocent young child trying to imitate her older sister. It grew and grew over the years with just one thought in mind, “I want to be better than her”. Nathlyn has always been intrigued with drawing and painting. She feels a surge of excitement when taking something real and displaying it on paper and it STILL looks real. She almost gets paralyzed with awe when something in mind comes together on canvas. Throughout her life she wanted to give up on drawing and painting because it is not very profitable in her country. But for some reason art would always find itself back to her. So, what she discovered about her failed attempts at quitting, is that drawing and painting lives and breathes in her. She won third place in the 2019 Earth Day poster competition held by the Barbados US embassy.

Title

War in the Invisible World

Medium/Genre

Other

Artist Statement

When someone hears the phrase, "The Amour of God", the first thing that comes to mind is a man suited in armour fighting in war. I wanted my artwork to be different from that first thought. Pray had to be present, because that's how we converse with God. Next, I wanted to portray the devil as something unusual so that it's not the first thing that comes to mind. So I thought, when the devil comes to tempt us he never shows up as something bad, because we'll obviously runaway. He presents himself as something kind, beautiful but all those are lies to lure us into his grasp.
After all that thinking the first thing that popped into my head was an anglerfish. An anglerfish acts the same way the devil does. It's an ugly creature that lives in the midnight zone of the ocean and anyone would run from if encountered face-to-face. It uses a kind, beautiful light to attract poor unfortunate creatures and gobbles them up then goes in search of another.
The anglerfish signifies Satan our adversary.
The light signifies the Amour of God that surrounds us when we pray.
The pitch darkness signifies how alone ww feel when faced with temptation.
The light is what that illuminates the darkness and keeps us safe.
I choose bubbles of light because the Amour of God is not physical. It feels to me that it's a light that chases the darkness away.
This piece took me serval days to come up with because when I force or rush bout the things I want to draw it never really comes out right. I just think about it day by day letting my ideas flow through my mind until the entire piece pops into my head. Some things just take time.

How it fits into contest

Every minute of every day there is a warfare going on spiritually all around us. We can't see the spiritual war going on right now, but we can protect our hearts and minds from fear or doubt with The Armour of God. The Armour of God aren't physical pieces of armour, it is a figurative description of what we need to protect ourselves from this war. For the bible says, "Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, having done all, to stand" Ephesians 6:14 (KJV). The armour of God is very simple to acquire, all we have to do is ask. "Ask, and it shall be given to you;.... For every one that asketh receiveth" Matthew 7:7-8 (KJV). The devil comes to tempt us and try to lure us into his jaws, like those of the anglerfish, and make us stray from the path of the righteous. So, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour" 1 Peter 5:8 (KJV). So stand firm then, with the belt of truth, because Gods truth sets us free from the lies of the enemy; with breastplate of righteousness which helps us choose what is right and protects us from sin; with the shoes of peace that helps us not to fear or worry about the things around us and share God's peace with others; with above all the shield of faith which strengthens us to believe only in God and is able to stand up to the lies and bad thoughts the enemy shoot at us; with the helmet of salvation which protects our mind and help us only to think about God; with the sword of the spirit which is the word of God. When we speak the words of the bible it can cut the lies of the enemy. Therefore, be strong in the mighty power of God and put on the whole Armour of God, so you can stand against the schemes of the devil. If we pray, read the bible, and have Jesus in our heart we will always be dressed in God's armour. So when the darkness slowly surrounds and terrifies us, it is The Amour of God that will illuminate us to stand firm against the enemy. Just because the armour isn't physical doesn't mean that the war isn't real. So get ready for battle now!

Credits

Nathlyn Matthew: drew the entire drawing

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