Welcome to my new series of blog posts, entitled, “Every Painting Has a Story”! In this series, I intend to share some of the back story behind each month’s painting in my 2021 Art + Scripture Calendar. I hope that through this series of posts, we can journey through the year together.
To make sure you don’t miss any of these posts, I’ve created a sign up form so you can be emailed the posts as they are released. If you gifted a calendar to someone who might enjoy reading these back stories, please have them sign up too!
January’s Painting: “Wisdom Will Guide Your Path”
This piece was a commissioned painting by a minister who wanted to send a very special thank you to an exceptional couple who supported his work over the years. As part of the process of coming up with a concept, I spent some time listening to my client tell me about the recipients – their life stage, challenges they face, ways they need encouragement, and any Scripture verses that came to mind when thinking about the recipients.
One of the themes that arose out of our conversation was this idea of God’s guidance for this couple’s future. The Scripture verse my client wanted to incorporate was Proverbs 3:5-6 which says,
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight.”
As I sat with their story and this verse, the idea of a mountain path came to mind. Since the recipients lived in Asia, I was hoping to depict a mountain they were familiar with. Unfortunately, there aren’t really mountains where they live, so we ended up choosing an image of a mountain path from Sao Miguel Island, just off the coast of Portugal. The original image I worked off of had a more finished path with railings, but we decided to make it more rustic to reflect how this couple is forging their own trail.
In the research process, I looked for images that had interesting skies (because skies were my focus last year, and continues to be), while also containing the path and mountain elements. My client was drawn to this one because it gave the sense of having a broad view of what’s ahead, as well as seeing varying terrain, which reflected life’s journey.
I titled this piece, “Wisdom Will Guide Your Path,” as a blessing and a statement of hope for the couple. My prayer and wish for them is that at each step of the way, they would listen to the voice of Wisdom and that they would know they don’t travel alone.
The other source of inspiration while I painted this was a song I heard at church on one of the Sundays as I was preparing for this project. Called, “Nothing I Hold Onto,” the lyrics begin with, “I lean not on my own understanding; my life is in the hands of the Maker of heaven.” And goes on later to say, “I will climb this mountain with my hands wide open.”
Here’s my favourite rendition of “Nothing I Hold Onto“:
I chose this painting for the month of January because for many of us, it is when we plan for the year. During this first month, we look ahead over the next 12 months to take stock of important tasks and milestones and possibly make decisions about how and where we want to invest our time and energy. I paired it with Proverbs 16:9, “In their hearts human plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps,” as a reminder that God is the one who holds our lives, even as we plan.
My hope is that for each of us, as we live out this first month of a new year, we would seek out the voice of Wisdom and walk in confidence that we are being guided.
If you enjoyed this post and want to read about the stories behind all the rest of the paintings in your calendar, remember to sign up so future posts get delivered to your email! I am aiming to post them the second Friday of each month. (You might need to check your promotions or junk folders if you don’t see it.)
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 on Facebook or Instagram. Thanks for being part of my journey and for letting me be a part of yours!