Like Elijah

So I decided to go big for my second acrylic piece in the painting journey… This piece ended up being roughly 3x2 feet! I was not expecting to fully dive into the deep end of large paintings, but here I am swimming in it. The only reason this piece happened was because I discovered an old frame that was about to be donated to Goodwill, and I could not let it slip away from me. While I struggled to conceptualize and execute one of the largest pieces of art I have ever made, it honestly was a very enjoyable process. I often find that when I am emotionally connected to a piece it becomes easier to make. I also tried out slow drying acrylics which I really loved experimenting with.

To be honest, I was wanting to do something fun with the piece. Originally I was going to paint a scene from the 2020 movie “Emma” on it as it has recently become one of my favorite movies. Then I had this idea, and it suddenly became much more important to me than Mr. Knightly and Emma Woodhouse.

Here is a painting that could probably connect to more than one subject and person. Depression, anxiety, loneliness, grief, worry, sickness, addiction, loss (the list goes on and on) are all concepts that passed through my mind as I spent many hours painting this piece. Ultimately, they all fell under this category: God hears, God sees, God knows.

The verse that initially spurred on the creation of this piece comes from the Old Testament. Here it is:

But Elijah climbed to the top of Mount Carmel and bowed low to the ground and prayed with his face between his knees.

Then he said to his servant “Go and look out toward the sea.”

The servant went and looked, then returned to Elijah and said, “I didn’t see anything.”

Seven times Elijah told him to go and look. Finally the seventh time, his servant told him, “I saw a little cloud about the size of a man’s hand rising from the sea.”

Then Elijah shouted, “Hurry to Ahab and tell him, ‘Climb into your chariot and go back home. If you don’t hurry, the rain will stop you!’”

And soon the sky was black with clouds. A heavy wind brought a terrific rainstorm.

-1 Kings 18: 42-45

Maybe we aren’t on Mount Carmel praying for a drought to end. That doesn’t mean our struggles and pain offered up in prayers are not heard. God still sees us in our hidden places as if were on the mountaintop praying for rain to come like Elijah.