The Ten Virgins
Over the years I have come to really love this parable. A parable is a simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson as told by Jesus Christ in the Gospels within the New Testament of the Bible.
The parable of the Ten Virgins teaches many lessons including preparedness, kindness, empowerment, being foolish, being wise, the power of choices and individual agency, being known to Christ, and then being unknown to Him.
I love this simple story because it shares the power women hold and the truth that Christ sees and knows our power. We can do anything. We can help others, listen to and love the broken hearted, share our love, learn to walk in the footsteps of another, stop and care for ourselves, protect our community, develop compassion, eliminate harm, stand up to the bully… all while sincerely learning how we can be more like Christ, especially for those who decide to call themselves “Christians”
All in all, this parable teaches steps regarding how to be a better human being—-how to be more like Christ.
The steps we take to be more Christlike are the drops of oil that fill our lamps. No matter what I do, I cannot share those experiences with you and you cannot share your experiences with me. Our experiences of good AND for good, are our drops of oil, the oil that fills our our lamps.
This is why I love the parable of The Ten Virgins. It is a vivid reminder of the amazing -ness of women; women of all colors shapes and sizes. My watercolor discreetly captures females of the globe from all kinds of cultures and settings.
Each painting is a hand-drawn and painted watercolor, individual and one of a kind. There may be similarities between each painting but each has its own personality. My goal is to make 100 original paintings. That’s it. Just 100. Each will be painted on Arches,100% rag watercolor paper and unframed.
Each painting is 8 3/4 inches x 19 3/4 inches, unframed, and $50.00 USD. If shipping is needed, there is an additional $15 fee.
Fees can be paid via check, cash and venmo[@melissa-leaym-fernandez]. Reach out to me with any questions at mjleaym.fernandez@gmail.com.
In my painting some of the women treasure their lamps and tenderly care for the oil within, while others see the lamp as a burden, another item to carry about. The figure on the far right is the artist, contemplating choices to make.
What people are saying:
“Your art is beautiful, colorful and I like how all the women are similar in shape but different in style and ethnicity. Even though they don’t have detailed faces you can see the foolish virgins are sad in the way they’re holding their lamps. The wise virgins are cradling their lamps and I think it’s because of the precious truths they know of the Savior. The parable teaches us not to wait to the last minute to learn of Christ and believe in Christ, we don’t know when he will come again. I personally don’t want to be on the outside trying to get in! I think our lamps are best filled when we serve each other, the service doesn’t have to be any grand gesture, sometimes just a listening ear is enough.”
— Marybeth, 2025