Created to be Crowned

Originally posted by Brenda, Sat, 12 Jul 2008 22:20:00 GMT on Pawn to King, and is filed under True Stories

As artists or designers, we have a chance to work in many different mediums and in many diverse forms. We take what is possible, experimental, successful, or even disastrous, and make an attempt to turn out a piece that we are proud to place our name on.

We create because there is an incredible part of our personality that longs to express our thoughts and ideas in a way that will speak to others in a powerful and intimate way. If we are successful, you will be able to identify any artist’s works without seeing our actual name on it, simply because our style or the ‘handprint’ on our piece is so unique.

God, our unique Creator, with both His words and with the work of his hands, performed the most miraculous forms of originality in creating both the heavens and the universe. The One who created all that is within it, is the Master of diversity and distinctiveness. Everything is colourful, exceptional, purposed, and has a matchless beauty of all its’ own. It is the interpretation of that creativity that influences how we view our world, and art, as such a personal thing.

For an artist, official challenges and competitions are a chance to exhibit can bring the best, and sometimes the worst, in any creative personality - fuelling the creative part of us that needs just one other excuse or “outlet” to design something.

A recent “challenge” was to incorporate a specific line of hand-dyed fabrics and threads for a show entitled “Quilters Pleasure Weekend”. We were required to purchase a kit that contained one spool of hand-dyed thread and two different fat-quarters of fabric (2 pieces, 18” x 22”), instead of the usual strips (9” x WOF, or what is known as width of fabric).

In spite of the already excessive amounts of fabrics stashed away in the cupboard, I wanted to personally challenge myself to use only the kit without adding too much to it. That meant a smaller project, but hopefully something that could pack a lot of punch!

It goes without saying that it would have to be something different that would catch the attention of the judges. Colourful and eye-catching, the workmanship would have to show off the true beauty and colour of the threads and fabric, without overwhelming the design of the item itself.

Inspiration came, and I knew what I wanted to do. The size was do-able and different. When studying fashion design, one of my required courses of study was millinery, but I hadn’t really done anything with it since. Now I found myself inspired to peruse every book I could order from the library in order to refresh my skills and knowledge-base on the subject.

I went through the process of creating the various pieces of the hat and mapped out the design itself. Then I started cutting out the sample pieces to perfect the details and catch any flaws within the project.

Perching the sample pieces on a ‘design head’ and seeing what alternations needed to be made... I began to contemplate the ‘crown’, which is the portion of the hat that sits on the top of the head. The crown gives it both structure and stability, and is the determining factor as to its’ overall fit and appearance. The top has to be well constructed in regard to the covering, fit, height, width, and shape, or else it loses its purpose and effectiveness. In other words, a hat is created to be “crowned”.

In the end, the simplicity of the overall design put me in mind of a frontal view of Tutmose’s painted, limestone sculpture of Queen Nefertiti that was made in the 18th Dynasty. It would almost appear like a flowerpot perched upon her head. She is wearing a period version of a royal head-covering, but it is not in our minds’ eye what a traditional crown would look like.

Searching out the definition of crown in the dictionary confirms that a crown was “reward of victory and honour and the titles associated with such positions”, “a royal, sovereign or imperial type of headwear”, the uppermost part of the head, mountain, tree or shrub, “the part of hat that sits on the top of one’s head”, “a wreath or decoration for the top of the head or skull”.

What is most interesting, is the Miriam Webster dictionary also adds a comment regarding to the “capitalization” of the word “crown”, referencing it to “(1) imperial or regal power: sovereignty (2) the government under a constitutional monarchy: monarch (7) something that imparts splendour, honour, or finish: culmination.”

There is not one crown that will be remembered as powerfully as one the wreath of thorns and crowns...woven and twisted... to be used as a tool of mockery on the head of Christ for His crucifixion. Worn by the King-of-Kings and Lord-of-Lords, it imparted the finish and culmination of His life’s purpose in the form of a man - in order to bring salvation and eternal life for those who would choose to believe. Because of His unselfish position of royalty as the Son of God, we too will be entitled to a crown of a different kind... if we choose to believe.

If we look at the Word of God in the New International Version, there are 70 verses that have the word ‘crown’ included. Noting that re-emphasizing verifies the importance, in reference specifically to our focus, there are a few outstanding verses that confirm there is indeed a crown that awaits each one of us at the finish... the culmination of our walk with Christ.

“Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.” 2 Timothy 4:8

“Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.” James 1:12

“And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.” 1 Peter 5:4

While the dictionary definition confirms that a crown is a “reward of victory and honour, and the titles associated with such positions”, the Word of God indeed guarantees that it will be a crown that is custom designed, creatively made, custom-fitted, and embellished with jewels that you have rightfully inherited and earned as a child of The King! Like Queen Esther, “you have been called unto a royal position for such a time as this"! (Esther 4:14)

...You were created to be crowned!