Water and Light

Water and Light, acrylic on canvas

January 2022

This was a painting that drew itself out over months; sometimes I would leave it out and add bits at pieces to it throughout the day, sometimes I wouldn’t touch it for weeks. How many layers have gone into this painting? All I can say is that I didn’t think about it in hours or numbers; it shifted, pushed, pulled, tilted - filling up with nuances and brushstrokes that have ebbed and flowed over the last year.

And in truth, my reflections and prayer while working on it have been the same. Sow and reap, rise and fall, bud and wilt, send and return.

We are sent out from the Heart to pour out, to give breath, to bring life; we return to it empty and able to receive it all again.

Do you fear exhaustion, oh my soul? Don’t. Simply be carried by the abyss of this Heart, surrounded by the warm, beating ocean that speaks the answer to existence. It is deep, it is immensity itself, eternal pouring to fill the eternal emptiness in us. Rise and fall, send and return - release the tension and step into the current.