Margaret Adams Parker     < Prev       Book of Ruth  Page 1         Next >
Ruth 12 - wash up and anoint yourself
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Woodcuts
Landscapes & Cityscapes
Women
Laments
Biblical & Other Texts
The Ruth Portfolio
    
The Ruth Portfolio
Twenty woodcuts:
Created to accompany
Ellen F. Davis' new translation of the Book of Ruth
Published in Who Are You, My Daughter? Reading Ruth through Image and Text
(Westminster John Knox Press, 2003)
 
 
     
Artist's Preface
 
...our challenge has been to explore the text, in Matisse's phrase, "as it really is." Our readers will note immediately that we think the story is not the conventional romantic idyll depicted by many illustrators. The story contains elements that we recognize more readily from the nightly news than from the stock romantic tale: refugees and widows, the broken and the destitute, the foreigner. The tale is more correctly understood as one of suffering and loss redeemed by steadfast faithfulness. And while the story ends on a note of tender joy and hope for the future, it is neither carefree nor light.