Hello friends, welcome to the third month of the year! Many people have commented on how much they like the painting for this month and I’m really excited to share the story behind it. So, come, let’s take a walk together, shall we?
Hannah and Eugene approached me about creating a painting for their home after thinking about it for a number of years. Hannah has been friends with my husband, Tim, since high school and she and Eugene watched me launch my art business in 2020. Our families stayed connected over the years and we enjoy supporting Eugene’s work with International Justice Mission (a really awesome organization tackling human trafficking around the world – go check them out!).
In our initial phone call, Hannah told me that she was envisioning a painting that could capture the feeling of walking in our local forests and looking up at the sky through the trees. I had never done a piece with this perspective before and it seemed both exciting and challenging; something I definitely wanted to take on. They told me their budget and I gave them some size options, as well as some digital mockups of what the various sizes might look like in their space. We also agreed that I would frame the piece for them.
They hoped the piece could be a reminder of the many walks they’ve taken together (physically and metaphorically) as well as serve as an invitation to exhale in the midst of their busy lives. Working off of several reference photos, I compiled this image for them. Originally, I hadn’t planned to include the sun, but as the painting evolved, it became clear that the sun was necessary.
Going into this project, I had not known much about the trees in our part of the world. Learning to paint trees better was something I wanted to work on, though, and I was so grateful that Hannah was knowledgeable in this area and shared her love of trees with me. Painting these trees definitely stretched my skills and I’m happy with how they turned out.
In designing the piece, we had explored various types of cloud options and we ended up going with these small, closely spaced puffs (I just looked it up and they’re called altocumulus clouds). I hadn’t had much experience painting this type of clouds before, so this part was also fun and challenging.
Witnessing the delight on their faces when they came to pick up the painting was a memory I will always cherish. It was their first time seeing it in person and they couldn’t stop staring at it! As the artist, I consider that a sign of a mission fulfilled. Later, after they brought it home, they told me they changed where they hung it so that they could see it more often.
In my initial conversation with Hannah, she had mentioned that she wanted the piece to remind her that it’s about the journey, not the destination. I thought it was only appropriate to title the piece, “It’s About the Journey.”
I chose this painting for the month of March because I was working on this piece around this time last year and in my mind, it’s associated with this month. I also hoped that the sun could warm up some of the bleaker days. My hope is that this piece can allow you space to exhale, whatever you might face this month, and remind you that it’s about the journey.
For those with the Scripture calendar:
The scripture I chose for this month is from Joshua 1:9, which says, “The Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” For a piece that is about journeying, it felt appropriate to remember that we do not travel alone.
Questions for reflection, if you want to go deeper: What emotions does this painting evoke for you? If you were to describe your current part of the journey, what three words would you use? How does knowing you don’t journey alone affect you?
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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 on Facebook or Instagram. Thanks for being part of my journey and for letting me be a part of yours!