09/03/2026
Join us for a special Entourage Tuesday (September 8th) where artist Mindi Oaten Art will show and share on her collection, “Beauty for Ashes.”
Jessie Sallee will join us in leading worship, as we focus on celebrating God’s redemptive nature and plan at work in our lives. We are expectant that it will be an evening of beauty, His Presence, and redemptive ministry as we meet Him in worship and the Word. Find out more about the collection below and don’t forget we will still be meeting at 7:30 this month!
Beauty for Ashes
by Mindi Oaten
Mixed Media Series (x12 pieces) — Watercolor, Charcoal, Gold Leaf, 18” x 24”
Center Work: Acrylic on Canvas, 30” x 30”
Beauty for Ashes is a collection exploring the sacred transformation described in Scripture —
the divine exchange where mourning becomes joy, sorrow becomes praise, and ashes become
beauty (Isaiah 61:3).
Each floral work is created with watercolor, charcoal, and gold leaf, materials chosen for their
symbolic resonance. Charcoal carries the memory of what has been burned or broken,
watercolor reflects human fragility and surrender, and gold speaks of redemption — the divine
presence that restores value, dignity, and radiance. Together, these elements tell a quiet story
of refinement: that what has passed through fire is not ruined, but made new.
At the center of the series is a foundational painting of Christ holding ashes in His hands, from
which flowers of every kind emerge and bloom. This image anchors the collection in the truth
that transformation does not originate in human strength, but in the hands of the One who
makes all things new. In His hands, ashes are not the end of the story — they become the soil
for resurrection.
The surrounding twelve flowers are each unique, reflecting the deeply personal ways beauty
can emerge from hardship — healing after loss, hope after despair, restoration after
brokenness. No two journeys are the same, yet all share the same promise: that nothing
surrendered to God is wasted.
This collection invites viewers to consider their own stories with gentleness and hope — to
recognize that even in seasons marked by ashes, new life may already be quietly unfolding.
“He will give a crown of beauty for ashes,
the oil of joy for mourning,
and a garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.”
