My thoughts behind the creation of my original piece “Comfort”
Comfort, comfort, O my people,
–Comfort, Comfort O My People (Hymn by Johann Olearius in 1671)
Speak of peace, now says our God.
Comfort those who sit in shadows,
Mourning ’neath their sorrows’ load.
Speak unto Jerusalem
of the peace that waits for them.
Tell of all the sins I cover,
and that warfare now is over.
Hark, the voice of one who’s crying
in the desert far and near,
bidding all to full repentance,
since the kingdom now is here.
Oh, that warning cry obey!
Now prepare for God a way!
Valleys, rise in exaltation;
hills, bow down in adoration.
O make straight what long was crooked,
make the rougher places plain.
Let your hearts be true and humble,
as befits a holy reign.
For the glory of our God
now o’er earth is shed abroad.
And all flesh shall see the token
that God’s word is never broken.
Faith has been at the center of what I do for as long as I can remember. It started at a little stone church in Windsor, Colorado, called St. Albans. The exterior was old, made of rough hewn stones, but the inside held the most incredible warmth, comfort, and loving people that helped me first learn about faith and God.
The little church in this painting similar to that first little church of my faith, but it is more wooden or rustic. The windows cast out the same warmth and welcome to those approaching. The warm colors in the windows are repeated in the swirling yellow, orange and red sky. This is depicting the glory of God as shown all around us in nature. The little church in this image is dwarfed by the massive mountains and sky- which is in itself another place of worship.
The shadow cast by the church points outward, urging those to who seek comfort inside the church walls to go back out and share the comfort with the world.
This piece, for me, is about the comfort that we are welcomed into by our faith. And it is also about the call to offer the same comfort to those around us.