"Growing Fruit: A Botanical Study of the Fruit of the Spirit" by artist Barb Stanford

We know that fruit doesn't just happen, it grows.
And while we can get fruit from the grocery store already ripe, we can't go to church and pickup the fruit of the Spirit.
We need to grow it in our lives. But What does a sapling love tree look like? Can you identify the seeds of a peace plant? What do the flowers of self-control look like before they turn into fruit? What does a tree of joy look like in its fall foliage?
And how does the style of botanical art, which seeks to illustrate a living thing, help us think about the fruit of the Spirit in a new way?

Artist Bio: Barb Stanford

Barb Stanford uses calligraphy, colored pencil, acrylic and oil paints to express, clarify, and illustrate the truths and beauty of life. Barb has always found a home for art in the church. In taking notes, illustrations to enhance the Bible Quiz team, and encouragement for teens artists. Recently, Barb painted daily for Advent, and then Lent, posting on Instagram and Facebook, and it was appreciated by many. Now living in St. Louis, Barb has been active in artwork to support the themes and messages in her church at Maplewood UMC.

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Growing Fruit: a Botanical Study of the Fruit of the Spirit features the original artwork of Barb Stanford and Christopher Grundy’s “Fruit of the Spirit” song. Grundy has attached a physical fruit to each fruit of the Spirit and it is these delicious fruits that Barb has drawn.
Each fruit is drawn in the style of Botanical Illustration, which combines different stages of the plant’s growth cycle together in one composition.
The illustrations are drawn on paper lunch bags, reminding us to connect these fruits, not just theoretically, but also culinarily. That is, fruit is nourishing and tastes delicious!
Barb Stanford is an amazing artist and also happens to be Jewell’s mom: the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

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Artist Writeup

In Psalm 139:13, we are told that God created and formed all the intricate, complex parts of our bodies. I believe that the same is true of all of God’s creative work, of the physical fruit we eat, as well as the spiritual fruit God produces in us.
Studying and observing the details of each fruit, illustrates the intricate, careful, purposeful hand of God as each fruit grows.
When seeds are planted, the growth begins. Some plants close to the ground, some on vines, and others on trees. The roots of each go down to the source of water and nourishment, as God provides. The plant matures, the leaves emerge, and soon after the flower; the beautiful, delicate, signs of the fruit to come. Some blossoms are subtle, some bright and flashy, and others small and elegant.
The developing fruit will come: refreshing, nourishing, sweet, juicy, aromatic, wonderful fruit for us to enjoy! Within the fruit are the seeds. artfully arrayed: a ring, a star, a pit, protected within the fruit. Each seed is filled with the DNA for more fruit to come! As it is planted near to its source of nourishment, it will grow, like the tree mentioned in Psalm 1:3, “planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season.”
Bard Stanford

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Kiwi of Kindness

Have you ever noticed how small the seeds of a kiwi are? They are so tiny and fragile that you eat them right along with the fruit, they even give a little nice crunch.
In Matthew 13:31-32, Jesus tells us a parable about another tiny seed …The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches. (NIV)" Even when it feels like a small and insubstantial thing, our kindness can create a shelter for life and growth and healing.
S. Jewell S. McGhee​

​Have you seen the Norman Rockwell drawing of a doctor doing a wellness check-up with a little girl’s dolly? When I think of gentleness, there is always an imbalance that is bridged, like the older medical professional taking seriously a worried child’s concerns. There is a carefulness, a recognition of what is fragile. Then valuing that fragile thing and protecting it, not because they must, but for the sake of another. For the sake of love.
In such a way, Christ always comes to us with gentleness. Christ, who faced death, who made creation out of chaos, who has been with us every long year of this weary world, Christ still comes gently. Whispering to us in the silence, feeding us together at the table, calling us back into community and the effort of relationship.
The God I worship is not waiting to throw lightning bolts at me any time I mess up. No, Jesus sees the mud I tracked in, and sits me down, and washes my feet.
S. Jewell S. McGhee