Hello friends and welcome to a new year! I am excited to be starting off this year with the painting, “The Promise of Spring.” For folks who are new to this blog series, I typically tell the story behind each month’s painting and include a section at the end for those with the Scripture version of my calendar where I explain why I chose the particular verse for the month. I also include some reflection questions for those who want to go deeper. If I have any art news, I will announce it at the very end. This month’s is a beautiful story and I hope you enjoy it!
“The Promise of Spring” was a commissioned piece for a senior couple from our church. They had recently sold their longtime home and asked if I could create a painting of the view from their old place so they could bring it with them to their new place because they would miss their view. On the last day of 2021, I drove to their old place, mounted some snow-covered steps and took a bunch of reference photos from their back porch. I had hoped for a nice sunset but that wasn’t to be. I took the photos anyway, knowing that I could reference the mountain images and change the sky and lighting for the painting.
In the process of developing the concept for this piece, my client had sent me a photo she’d taken of those mountains with a pink afterglow. I combined her image with a sky from another photo to create the composition. My clients wanted a long panoramic canvas to fit above their bed so we went with a 15″x48″ size. They also intended to frame it so we chose a 3/4″ slim profile.
While I was painting this, the husband was hospitalized so I prayed for them through my paintbrush. I titled the piece, “The Promise of Spring” because I wished it would remind them of hope. Even though health-wise, it felt like winter, spring will eventually come. If you look closely at the tree on the right hand side, you will see there are buds on the branches.
I was deeply honoured to have been given the opportunity to create this for my clients, especially knowing that they had artists in their family and had many other artist connections they could have chosen from. I was deeply moved by the moment when she came to pick up the piece and she included a little bonus for me on her cheque. Her action spoke so much of both her generosity and her confidence in me; it is something I will never forget.
I chose this painting for the month of January because the snow-capped mountains speak to me of winter-time (and being in the Northern Hemisphere, we are definitely in Winter). Yet, even in the heart of the coldest time of the year, we live with the promise that Spring will come. As with my clients, I wanted to offer each of us some hope as we start a new year.
For those with the Scripture calendar
I paired this month’s painting with the verse from Ecclesiastes 3:1 which says, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.” January is often a time of planning, goal setting, and resolution-making. I know in our family, we usually take a day to evaluate the past year and look ahead to the coming year. I can be tempted to run ahead of myself and get anxious about all that is upcoming. This verse reminds me that everything has its time. Knowing that everything has a time also offers me space for the whole range of human emotions and experiences, including grief and sadness when most of the messaging in the world tells us to have a “happy” new year.
Questions for reflection, if you want to go deeper: Where in your life does it feel like winter right now? How are you waiting for Spring? Fill in the blank: “In this season of my life, it is a time for __________.”
Thanks for All Your Support!!
Thanks to your enthusiastic support, my 2023 calendars are sold out. There may be a straggler copy or two if you still want one and didn’t get one (just contact me).
To those of you who gifted them to others this Christmas, thank you! It means a lot that you would share my work and I am in awe when I think that so many people out there can enjoy the art. If you think your family and friends would like journeying through the year together and learning about the backstories to these paintings, please help me let them know about my blog post newsletter. As an artist, having folks stay connected via my newsletter is immensely valuable so I really appreciate your help spreading the word.
If you enjoyed this post and want to read about the stories behind all the paintings in this year’s 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!