This week's Old Testament artworks depict the story of Noah and the Ark in Genesis 6-8. You can view one new acrylic on panel painting on this theme by American Outsider Artist Myrtice West in her Sacred Artist profile page and five book plates by East European printmakers in the East European Ex Libris page in the Schools of Sacred Art section. The Great Flood is tale of tragic dimensions, but bring on the animal parade and a large, landlocked boat and you can well understand why this narrative is a favorite in Children's Bible Story Books. In West's whimsical painting, angels help Noah herd the animals and oversee construction of the ark. The serpent, no doubt from the Garden of Eden, adds a comic touch with its plea: "I've got to get on the ark." There is humor, as well, in Slovak Graphic Artist's Katarina Smetanova's ex libris etching, where the ark seems to cut through the waves like a huge ocean liner, its animal passengers, crowded on deck for a better view. Beralus Printmaker Ivan Rusachek presents both the ark and the dove, which signals the end of the flood, in a highly structured composition, built around a triangle with a radiant sun at its apex, suggesting the all-seeing eye of God. The book plates of Bulgarian Artists Robert Baramov and Peter Velikov present the hopeful end of the story. The sun breaks through the clouds, the waters recede, a mountain is in sight, and in the Baramov print, a few of the animals on board try out their land legs on waterlogged ground. Czech Printmaker Josef Weiser's small linocut shows the ark resting on Mt. Ararat like the first habitat for humanity in a newly restored world. (John Kohan)