Margaret Preston (29 April 1875 – 28 May 1963) was an Australian painter and printmaker who is regarded as one of Australia’s leading modernists of the early 20th century.  Between 1932 and 1939, Preston lived in the bush suburb of Berowra.  Here, she turned to Australian Indigenous art as an inspiration, deploying Aboriginal design motifs and natural-pigment color schemes in her work.  Preston’s later works built on the Aboriginal themes she developed at Berowra, and her very last works had overtly religious themes, possibly in response to the Blake Prize for Religious Art, instituted in 1951.

In this depiction of the Marriage at Cana (Christ turning the Water into Wine – Margaret Preston,1951), the painting portrays the moment when Jesus is turning the water into wine.  I think it is very interesting how Preston used aspects of her own life and elements from the time and place where she lived and transported them into Biblical times.  In the background we can see the wedding guests huddled under what seems to be a modern, industrial type of building.  The roof seems metallic and both chimneys also seem to be modern and on the side of the building are common, modern 4-pain windows.  There are two kangaroos playing by a bird bath which is an instance where Preston uses her Australian background.

In the foreground Jesus is standing over the stone water jars transmuting the water into wine.  The wedding had run out of wine and weddings during these times lasted about a week with wine expected to last throughout.  Jesus made a wealthy abundance of wine that would yield a thousand bottles worth.  The wine is brought to the chief steward and not knowing where the wine came from, remarks to the bride and groom how people generally serve good wine first until everyone is too drunk to tell the difference, but they have still kept the good wine.  This is the first of Jesus’ seven signs in the book of John.  It is a promise of the greatness Jesus will bring. The best wine being saved for last, when you would least expect it.  Jesus was attending as a guest, it is intriguing how in the role of a guest and not as host he became the great provider.

My name is Eliot; I lived in Alaska… now I don’t.