Make You a Garland from His Tree (Paintings from the Women's Week Show at BYU)

This was a very fun show that I did with Lee Udal Bennion, Kathleen Paterson, and Sally Poet. This is my portion of the show,  a few of the images are described below.

I love this sweet piece,  based upon a phrase from the odes of Solomon, some of the earliest Christian Hymns.  This one comes from ode #20.  

"But put on the grace of the Lord generously, and come to His Paradise, and make for yourself a garland from His tree. Then put it on your head and be joyful, and recline upon His rest.  For His glory will go before you; and you shall receive of His kindness and of His grace; and you shall be anointed in truth with the praise of His holiness."

The entire set of odes have been very intriguing to me,  and inspired a series about "the anointing"  a word synonymous with early christianity,  since the very word "christ" and "christian" both come from the Greek work anointed.  This frame was create by Rett Ashby.

This one is titled, "He that is Joined to Eternity" a poetic reference to the 3rd ode.  Ma'at being synonymous with both Eternity and the female spouse. The osterich feather is the Ma'at symbol,  as can be seen scripted above her head in similar fashion to the Egyptian heiroglyphic vingettes, the laurels being the symbol of coronation for men,  achievable only through the marriage.

This one is comes from the first ode,  although I prefer the other translation which says the Lord is upon my head like a wreathe,  I will include the full translation from the gnostics:

1. The Lord is on my head like a crown, and I shall never be without Him. 
2. Plaited for me is the crown of truth, and it caused Your branches to blossom in me. 
3. For it is not like a parched crown that blossoms not; 
4. For You live upon my head, and have blossomed upon me. 
5. Your fruits are full and complete; they are full of Your salvation....

The reason that I prefer the wreathe translation is the fact that the entire series of odes are not just hymns,  but actually accompanied temple rituals, as Hugh Nibley explains in his fascinating book,  the Message of the Joseph Smith Papyri.  The constant reference to wreaths flowers and garland,  is a doubling of the motifs of coronation with the motif of the Tree of Life,  the later being synonymous both with the Garden of Eden and priesthood sealing ordinances.

"The Isle of Embracing"  I've described this one in a post after the same name.

The show also included my larger painting Oh Morning Star,  Make a Path for Me,  As well as my "Glorious Mother Eve" painting, which has been explained in previous posts.

 

I loved so many of these other paintings, especially the top one by Kathleen Paterson.  It reminds me of "the firm grasp" series that I wanted to do,  but as of yet,  have not had time.  And of course,  Sallie's paintings are incomparable for cool factor.

The Isle of Embracing

This one is called the Isle of Embracing. 

In supremely beautiful storytelling, the ancient Egyptians placed the story of the first marriage, on “the Isle of Embracing”... “a green lotus land,” beneath the life-giving boughs of the noble “ished-tree growing ‘in the Field of Turquoise… in the midst of Heliopolis’“ As Hugh Nibley Explained, it was  “(i.e., in the temple garden).”  It is this garden that brings “the King’s first parents and the first pair on the earth… together at the the New Year––the time of creation––to write the king’s name on the leaves of the sacred tree itself.” (MJSP 304) It is perhaps one of the oldest references to the solemnization of marriage as well as to the building of family tree, but also the ritual that led to the coronation of the king.

Nibley further explains, the young king “takes possession of the land in the manner of Adam exploring the garden, he embraces the Lady, whereupon life springs up out of nothing, the earth bringing forth spontaneously.” (MJSP 305) Egyptian poetry would later share this metaphor with all newlyweds, each becoming a first man, and first woman, each co-creators of their own civilization, poetically stating, “Joy has he whom she embraces, He is like the first of men!”

Scholars assure us that the “idea that the divine marriage must take place in a grove is  found all over the world” (MJSP 304) Greek and Roman traditions follow both the wrestle and embrace of Thetis and Peleus, while the orient celebrates the union of Fu Xi and Nu Wa as bringing life from the garden heights of Kunlun Mountain to the rest of the world. Similarly the “unified, complementing and integrated image of Lakshmi and Vishnu as wife and husband” notes Patricia Monaghan, is "the paradigm for rituals and ceremonies for the bride and groom in Hindu weddings".[10]

We could recite hundreds more examples, but one does not have to study long to realize that these are 

all parallel tellings of the Adam and Eve story, a paradigm which seems to find a natural home within 

the universal human hunger for origin and purpose.  From Jews to Muslims, Gnostics, Copts, and 

Western Christian Civilizations, each reverence a canonised form of this story. Even the Taoists idealize 

this male and female “harmonization of opposites” as the “Diagram of Ultimate Power.”

Saying Goodbye to Eve

This piece has been an iconic part of my heart for so long now.  It seemed to identify for me  what it was that I was trying to say and accomplish as an artist. Selling something so close to my heart felt a bit like placing a child for adoption.  Although I could not be happier with it's new home, (Stain glass artist Tom Holdman and his beautiful wife took it home from the Joseph Smith Memorial Building,)  I still am somewhat melancholy about the empty space in my studio, as well as the prospect of being guided only by memory of the piece where meaning, medium, purpose, metaphor and calling, everything clicked.

The Mystery of Eden, A Benefit Auction

Meridian Magazine and I are auctioning 6 Paintings that celebrate the Temple and the Garden of God. 100% of the proceeds from the paintings will support the "Celebration of Marriage."

You can place a bid by emailing me (queenmary.summerhays@gmail.com) your full name, contact info, name of the piece and the bid amount. Bid increments must increase at least $25. I’ll notify you by email each time you’re outbid. The auction will end at 9pm MST on Friday, April 18th.

Below the pictures you can read a description of the meaning behind the images.

#1 Apple Blossams, Original watercolor
 (5 x 10 inches) 16 x 20 inches framed
High bid: $500
High Bidder: LL

#2 Fox Gloves, Original watercolor
 ( 10 x 10 inches) 18 x18 inches framed
High bid: $100
High bidder: AC

#3 Circle and Square, Original watercolor
(9 x 6 inches) 18x22 inches framed
High bid: $275
High bidder: JS

#4 Sacred Memory, Giclee Print with deckled edge
 (14 x 14 inches) 20 x 22 inches framed
High bid: $200
High Bidder: VA

#5 As the Dews Descending, Geclee Print
 (15 x 15 inches) 26 x 26 inches framed
High bid: $100
High bidder: SB

#6 Almond Blossoms Limited Edition 187/500 Giclee Print,
 ( 5 x 16 inches) 14 x 26 inches framed
High bid: $100
Highest bidder: MS

The Mystery of Eden

From the Egyptian Isle of Embracing, to the Asian Kunlun Mountain, every culture in every age has told the story of the garden; the paradise where men and women unite to create life and love.  No matter what our origins, this foundational story, upon which cultures rise and fall, reminds each of us, of the interplay between life, and love, and the promise of Eternal Life in the “Garden of God.”

Each of these diverse garden stories have defining significance for the cultures that they inspire.  As Latter-day Saints we turn to the temple to see the Judeo Christian paradigm story in it’s purest clarity.  As one LDS temple sealer explained the Eden story, “That there might be no question as to its nature and purpose God himself performed earth’s first marriage uniting the man Adam and the woman Eve as ‘one flesh’  in a union that was to be as Eternal as God himself. It was in that sacred ceremony that the command was given that they multiply and replenish the earth.”

In attempting to understand that sacred ceremony, we can find no better setting than a garden, since God describes the glory of the New and Everlasting Covenant as “a continuation of the seeds forever and ever.” (D&C 132:19)  God had earlier described his intent and purpose in creating this first man and woman by saying, “We will cause them to be fruitful and multiply” (Abraham 4:28)  It was only woman that could give Adam that “fruit.”    Only that beguiling gift,  both fatal and fruitful, would fulfill the New and Everlasting Covenant, achieving the ideal that their seeds “continue.”

Because of Eve’s power to create life, Adam’s posterity would live on the earth long after his death, making Adam eternal.  Eve created a fruitful line of Fathers and Mothers that would literally “continue” throughout “all generations of time.”

Yet the covenantal promise was to achieve eternity in two different spheres: “both in the world and out of the world should they continue as innumerable as the stars.”

Only Sealing power would give their children Eternal Life, or life after death.  Just as Eve gave Adam eternal life through childbearing,  Adam, using the priesthood, gave Eve and her children Eternal Life through the ordinances of the gospel.  Only together, acting as one flesh, could they achieve all that was intended by the Eternal Father.  

In uniting the “Father of Many,” and the “Mother of All Living,” God defined the need for relationships,  the sealing ordinances, the function of the priesthood, and our divine inheritance as sons and daughters of God.

Our temples recreate this divine setting where we may gather to Eden, following the pattern established by the Eternal Father; to be sealed in family units, every child tied to his mother and

father, preserving the garden of humanity, beneath the boughs of the Tree of Life.

Adam and Eve’s  lives were defined by their origin and gender in Eden and the promise to pass cherubim and a flaming sword in order to again commune with their Father. This setting illustrated the sealing power and it’s significance in the lives of the human family,  as  we “weld” families together, sealing each of us to a birthright that is both divine and biological-  A married mother and a father,  bound in a new and everlasting covenant.

Adam’s desire to return to the place where he walked and talked with God in the cool of the evening could not be restrained from his children—grandchildren of paradise.  The scriptures describe our first parents making “all things known unto their sons and their daughters” (Moses 5:12). Of course, the first high priest taught them to return to the temple to be sealed. Would Adam invent an alternative to the pattern God established in the garden?

This paradigm story reveals our divine relationships not only between man and wife, but also what it means to be parent and child.  It reveals what we inherit as children of God, and what part of that birthright that we pass on to our children. It is a powerful identity we can only discover in the garden of God—as we embrace those we love in the pattern that was established in Eden; A pattern that creates both Eternal life, and eternal lives, two different gifts that combine to create the fruitful continuance designed in Eden,  the garden of God.

 

To view the images you need to Click here

Beauty is Medicine for the Soul Saint and Angels Sing Icons inspired by the Odes of Solomon The Odes of Solomon are among the earliest Christian Hymns used in a temple 70 miles south of Jerusalem, by Christians fleeing political persecution. I find them particularly interesting because they confirm a feminine presence in early Christian Worship. These poems celebrate the tree of life and give new insight into the ancient Christian Imagery of Angels, Halos, and Crowns,  the same symbols Moses once called the "Ornaments" or Eden.  I hope you will love the imagery and poetry as much as I do. Here is just a taste: Ode 1 The Lord is on my head like a crown, and I shall never be without Him.   Plaited for me is the crown of truth, and it caused Your branches to blossom in me.   For it is not like a parched crown that blossoms not;   For You live upon my head, and have blossomed upon me. Dear Mary, You're invited to the second annual   Christmas Open house  and Art Show    "It's All Art" With a special Concert in memory of Terry Summerhays, Featuring members of Intimate Opera, as well as a Hot Chocolate Bar.  The open house will run from  3 until 10pm, with concert and refreshments from 7:30-10 pm. Please join us in Salt Lake, at 1262 East 600 South  at the Summerhays residence. Mary Glad Mary Summerhays Glad has been crafting these exquisite handmade beads since childhood,  but her years living and working as a diplomat in Morocco gave her a close up into the artistry and craft behind this unique and rare form of Jewelry making. Each bead is built of  tiny strands of paper wrapped as spools of paper, which she couples with other semi precious stones to make necklaces of exquisite and colorful patterns, creating a truely unique gift. Ben Behunin Ben Behunin's whimsical and humorous pottery is nationally renowned. His latest book, "With a Chery on Top"  is dedicated to Terry Summerhays and celebrates the idea that a life well lived inspires us all and proves "It's All Art." Mary Summerhays Icons inspired by the Odes of Solomon  Oil on Canvas Pannel (Sold) I will be showing a series of "Saints" and Angels inspired by early Christian hymns, and iconography, as well as sharing the full text of this ancient poetry. My art focuses on the universal need for relationships and the  transformative power of those interactions in both ancient and modern belief. Each painting incorporates symbols and metaphors from ancient cultures and their belief that art (and icons especially) had power to reach beyond our immediate circumstances. May the message of the season resonate in our hearts,  and as always- Beauty is Medicine for the Soul Be Well, Mary Summerhays (801-787-2697) queenmary.summerhays@gmail.com More info at SummerhaysStudios.blogspot.com  Angel with Lute Oil, Acrylic and Gold Leaf $380 Ave Maria Mixed Media on panel $250

I'm so excited to finally announce my next show! 

"In Great Glory"

I'll be doing a group show with  Lee Udall Bennion and Sallie Poet

 at the Harris Fine Arts Center during Women's Conference. 

Thursday May 2 to Tuesday May 14th

The show will focus on the role of women in the gospel. 

My pieces focus on the coronation and anointing symbols of the mortal journey as they appear in the pattern of the "Mother of all Living" and particularly "Our Glorious Mother Eve."

They are, frankly, seriously cool, and I can't wait to show them. Just in time for Mothers' day.

I wanted to give you a sneak peak at my Spring show-

"Paradise"

 A place synonymous with Eden;

 The core of our Temple worship;

 The place where God  walked with his son in the "cool of the day;"

  It is the place where we discover our Relationship to God;

 The place we Embrace those we Love. 

Each of my garden paintings is Reminiscent of this idyllic place,  where our relationships are created, solemnized,  and celebrated. 

 

 They are Symbolic of the Many Paradises in our lives -

 be it  Home or Temple,

the Embrace of a loved one,

 or the ultimate promise of eternal Union.

 Each is a garden flourishing

beneath the boughs of the Tree of Life.  

Join me Valentines Day, 1-3pm

 at the University Village Deseret Book 

as we celebrate the place where Love began. 

I'll be doing a demo, giving free gifts, and much more.

Now that the show is over most of these pieces should be available on my Etsy shop.