RIKI YARBROUGH
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BEHIND THE WORK

THE NARRATIVES BEHIND EACH PIECE

FIGHTING WORDS

11/26/2022

 
Picture
I watched him all morning, raring up, wings beating in a frenzy, attacking his reflection in the window over and over. In his eyes this was a formidable foe, matching his unrelenting zeal and aggression and (suspiciously) the same offensive maneuvers. The battle was painfully long but necessary considering what was at stake... his home, his mate, his nest.
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A true protector does not wait to be encroached upon but sits as a watchman, looking to divert danger before it steps into his territory. He positions himself between harm and home, as a soldier, risking life and wing to protect. Devoted to what has been entrusted to him, he will catch a flicker of light and red in a window and take those as fighting words. What glory that is to his home.

FALL FLYERS

11/20/2022

 
Picture
It was on a walk when I first encountered the confetti of Fall. Gold and gray feathered leaves were falling like tickertape on my parade, when I realized many of these “fallers” were flying... all around me. Snout-nosed butterflies, dressed like the leaves of the nearby shedding trees, were fluttering on the gusts of wind before my face and down my path on their sporadic migration somewhere north. I pretended to hear their pants as their ashy and rust feather wings beat against the breeze, dodging the falling obstacles near their size. I gleefully watched as hundreds and hundreds moved upward in joy when the whole world said “go south.” Not all things fall in the Fall. 
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Change has the potential to shed us from what seems stable and cause us to drift down into despair. But change also ushers in a breeze, a breath, on which we can fly... somewhere north. Flying is just a thousand little flits and flutters of faith - when you don’t know where the wind is taking you, but you trust the wind is good.    (John 3:8)

CANYON LINES

11/12/2022

 
Picture
​Canyons trap lines and colors that preserve stories like petals pressed within a stack of books. This canyon holds stories of time and pressure and disaster and pains. It tells of glory and growth and life-giving rains. I survey the layers, each holding its own treasures and highlighted by the scanning sun over the course of the day. And just like the making of this very piece, the rock ledges and painted soils that captivate me so were made—planned, measured, carved, and set—by a Maker. His lines are ordered and extend as far as my sight will stretch. His colors, deep and moving. His use of dark and light, masterful. My canyon is His making. And whether my foot hits shadow or golden light, I can trust this canyon trail was designed for taking.
“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements—surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone...?   (Job 38:4-6)

    WORKS ADDED

    May 2023
    April 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    November 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    June 2020
    August 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017

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© COPYRIGHT 2015. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • art
    • landscapes
    • birds_animals
    • cactus_floral
    • genre art
    • scripture
    • advent
    • commissions
    • Prints
  • BEHIND THE WORK
  • design
  • book
  • about
    • contact me