Happy April, friends! The story this month will be short and sweet.
“晨曦 Morning’s Light” was a painting I created for my aunt in Toronto. The oldest sister of my dad, my aunt had moved to a long-term care facility and I was visiting her for the first time there in June 2023. I wanted to give her a little window of beauty to have in the midst of an otherwise sterile environment.
The image I chose was based off of a photo by my local city councilor of a park in Port Coquitlam. I had referenced her image for one of my Tiny Expanses paintings and had wanted to try painting it larger. I upcycled a canvas that one of my kids had painted on when they were little. It was something that could fit in my suitcase on my flight over.
I titled it “晨曦 Morning’s Light” as an expression of hope. I wanted to include Chinese in the title because that’s the language my aunt is most familiar with. “晨曦” (pronounced “sun hay” in Cantonese) are the words for the first rays of sun in the morning. I’m grateful my mom is around for me to ask her questions like, “How do you say dawn in Chinese? And how do you write it?”
Being second generation Chinese Canadian, I have a language barrier that prevents me from any deep conversation with my aunt. However, I believe that the beauty of nature is a universal language. Now that I live in BC, I don’t really have a way of keeping in touch with her but I do hope that my painting continues to give her something beautiful to look at in her care home.
For those with the Scripture calendar:
The verse I paired with this month’s painting is Lamentations 3:23 (NIRV), which says, “[God’s] great love is new every morning.” A fuller version of verses 22-23 (ESV) is, “The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” I chose this image and the verse to be a reminder of God’s faithfulness – to offer us hope with each new day. With everything that is happening in our world, this is a helpful truth to ground ourselves on.
Questions for reflection, if you want to go deeper: Recall a time in your life when you witnessed the sun rise – can you remember that sense of awe and hope? How can you carry that same awe and hope into your days this month? In what aspect(s) of your life are you waiting for the dawn?
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As always, I love to hear from you! If something in this story resonated with you, if you’re interested in commissioning a painting, or if you have other thoughts, feel free to email, or connect with me.