“Not Adrift”
14×18 watercolor on watercolor paper
There are places in the world where the faith has dwelt for so long that it’s soaked through the stonework into the very bedrock of the earth. These places ring with the chants of ancient voices, while being saturated in the aroma of incense and prayer. These are the places my heart longs to visit. To sit among stones that once heard the prayers of great men like St. Patrick and St. Cuthbert is a dream I hope to one day realize!!
"My Thoughts in the Silence"
16x20 watercolor on watercolor paper
Culture today is so very noisy, yet by comparison to our own internal world it is quiet. All around us there is "noise noise noise" as the Grinch once declared. If it's not highway noise, its the neighbors blaring car audio, or the work truck cutting down yet another tree. Still, rather than face the wrestling match we fear in our own internal world, we fire up youtube, plug in the headphones, listen to the next politician rant about the world, all so we can ignore the difficult thoughts we desperately want to pretend aren't there. I'm trying though, I try to make time to sit in the silence and let my inner world speak for the sake of growth. Sometimes, heck, a lot of times, my thoughts look like these twisted ever moving tree limbs.
"My Thoughts in the Silence"
16x20 watercolor on watercolor paper
Culture today is so very noisy, yet by comparison to our own internal world it is quiet. All around us there is "noise noise noise" as the Grinch once declared. If it's not highway noise, its the neighbors blaring car audio, or the work truck cutting down yet another tree. Still, rather than face the wrestling match we fear in our own internal world, we fire up youtube, plug in the headphones, listen to the next politician rant about the world, all so we can ignore the difficult thoughts we desperately want to pretend aren't there. I'm trying though, I try to make time to sit in the silence and let my inner world speak for the sake of growth. Sometimes, heck, a lot of times, my thoughts look like these twisted ever moving tree limbs.
“Home”
14×18 watercolor on watercolor paper
Home is where we learn who we are, or sadly for some, where we learn who we aren’t. It is the grounding place, the dwelling in which we are held in the stable grip of love, or tossed about on the turbulent waves of insecurity and pain. Nature is thereby nurtured under the wing of truth, goodness, and beauty, unless those trancendentals are not offered, and instead the whims of the culture pervade. Home is the great realm of love for some, or the swamp of insecurity for others.
“Ancient”
16×20 watercolor on watercolor paper
This piece, for me, is at its core a statement on the ancient spirit that enlivens three core components of existence: nature, man, and religion. These three pieces of our daily life are as interconnected as the Celtic “triquet.” There is not one without the other.
“Old Beauty” – (sold)
16×20 Watercolor on Watercolor paper
There is an incredible paradox between ancient existence of nature, and the truth that every spring newness breaks out of winter’s grip. Our world is old, far far older than we realize, and yet each year it is new and fresh. So it is with faith. The necessity of faith has been a part of the human experience, well, for as long as there has been a human existence. And yet, everyday we wake and are offered new grace and mercy to enliven the journey we are walking. It is an old, beautiful paradox.
“Observation”
14×18 Watercolor on Watercolor paper
There is a genuine hunger within contemporary culture for transformative discovery. So much of the self-help, new-age, “get better,” sphere is aimed at looking in and discovering the authentic self. This is a good thing. Looking inward to discover the reality of who we are along with what it is that makes us tick is worth every second. That said, there is a cavernous problem with this approach in that it does not teach the purpose behind contemplative introspection. For the contemplative we turn our attention inward, so that we can cultivate a healthy interior which then propels us outward to help cultivate and grow the exterior world. We should observe our interior, learn from it, cultivate (pruning where needed) and then move outward and help provide growth in the communities around us. When we see the potential within, we can help produce beauty without.
“Contemplation”
16×20 Watercolor on watercolor paper
So much of the world today has become painfully loud, or, as Fr. Gabriel Rochelle wrote “”When I was a child it was quiet,” nobody is ever going to say that again.” This is painfully true today. The beauty of silence is being slowly driven away from the soul by a cacophony of noise and synthetic distraction. We don’t sit and stare at the stars any longer, we stare at miniature mechanical boxes filled with dreadful shadows. But to a few precious souls, the art of contemplation is still being practiced. In the quite of the morning these beautiful souls sit and allow nature’s song to wash over them and drive away the inner noise. From that inner quiet, they are then able to go out and be a source of calm and refreshment to those around them. Contemplation, like the quiet ever flowing river, is an opportunity to still the spirit, nourish it, and then offer it as a gift to the world around us.
“Let Go”
12×18 Watercolor on watercolor paper
There are some places on the planet that just scream beauty, and that beauty is often accompanied by genuine danger. The Princess is surrounded by the dragon, Eden had it’s serpent, and roses have their thorns. To experience the grandeur, we have to embrace the risk. That requires detachment, not the post modern “I could care less” nihilism being offered to us by so many, but rather a realization that not all things remain, and some things are here for a season and then must be let go of. When we let go of control, when we step out onto the bridge and cross from what we know to what we long to experience, we are free to soak in the enormous beauty offered. Then, when we’ve crossed over and are filled to overflowing, we can return home all the more enriched, like Odysseus, and share what we’ve gained with those around us.
“Looking for Home”
16×20 Watercolor on watercolor paper
I think all of us are looking for that place to call home. Whether it’s a family we longed for as a child but never had, a faith family that will take us in, filth and all, or an organization where we can do meaningful work, we all want that one place on the planet where our otherness is welcomed and embraced. That said, finding home means walking away from the comfortable and into the unknown where all manner of goblins and trolls will attempt to trip us up or knock us off the path. It’s certainly a scary journey, but one worth taking, and if we are willing to endure the countless difficulties, we’ll arrive at in a place where we not only feel at home externally, but we’ll be at home internally. And there, at home in ourselves, we’ll find the acceptance we long for.