A pathway - scene 8

Scene 8 at first seems like one of my scattergun approach to inclusions of interesting bible stories, but the reading about St John the Baptist opens the gospel of Mark (Mark 1:1-8) and is one of the readings read in the run up to Christmas. The actual story is about preparing for the adult Jesus, but I guess it is read at this time of year because we are preparing for the arrival of the infant Jesus.

My depiction in a hair shirt in the desert is a classic depiction.

The reading itself  harks back to and specifically references an earlier prophecy in Isaiah (Isaiah 40:3). The key words for this scene is "make straight the way of the Lord".
As a result I decided the scene would extend beyond itself, with the path becoming straight and extending away from it.
To make reference to the (?)intertextuality - reference that also makes reference to another text, and to the idea of prophecy, I decided to make use of some beautiful fabric with writing on it. I tried to make sure I chose writing that was not super legible but was clearly writing. I also put some of it upside down.

Another element to the design I added as a later feature when putting on the numbers, and you can see here, but also in scene 1, is a marker of the fact that this scene is a key point in the journey - a Sunday, the second Sunday of Advent. The number 8 is surrounded by the shape of a flame. 

Added to this I chose to colour code the numbers by weeks. So this first week was a light blue circle round the other numbers. If you go back to the posts about 2-7 you can see this.