It all began, as the hymn says, with a lovely morning. Light streaming through trees, hope in his heart, and the kind of stillness that makes you think maybe just maybe God might be listening. That's the moment I painted: Joseph stepping into the grove, full of questions, untested but willing.
But of course, life doesn't stay tidy. It started out beautifully, and then it got messy-painfully, humanly messy. The vision came, brilliant and clear, yes. But the years that followed?
Complicated. Costly. Just like ours.
This painting is my attempt to hold space for all of it: the innocence, the courage, the encounter, and the after. I painted the light gently, the forest honestly, and let his hand rest against the tree like someone bracing for what's next.
Because isn't that the truth of it? We all begin with our own lovely morning, but eventually, life scuffs us up. Still, if we keep seeking, we find pieces of the divine. And if we're lucky
and intentional—we get to keep all the good.
