At the time of this painting, I was grieving so many things: violence, all sorts of injustice, poverty, systematic injustice and my part in it, sexual harassment and violence … And I was wondering, “Is the Church really helping us in any of this?” Sometimes the divisions in the Church seem like a greater stumbling block than all the other things toward helping people see God. So this painting began as a dark one. I was processing my grief and anger at the Church. But in the midst of it, the Holy Spirit wouldn’t let me leave it there. It was as if the painting was teaching me, “God isn’t surprised or taken off guard by this. He can handle it.” And then I began to see the images I was painting in a new way. Suddenly, the landscape and even the image of an abandoned, old, deteriorating church were filled with a “great cloud of witnesses.” And I knew that God still sends his Holy Spirit, even to the divided, often broken Church. Because if the Church misses it or gets it wrong, “the rocks will cry out.”
Oil on canvas ©2017
The painting is signed on the front, also signed, titled and dated on the back.
Sides are painted but could also be framed. Art arrives wired and ready to hang on your wall with a signed certificate of authenticity. It can be displayed on your mantle, window ledge, shelf or wall. I use professional grade oils with high quality color pigments that have resistance to fading. The painting is finished with varnish to enhances the intensity, transparency and luminosity of colors and to protect the artwork from UV rays and dust.
