Meet Me in the Broken Places, 9”x12” oil on pane, 2020
Finding the majesty in the mundane often requires seeing the beauty in a something as it is, without embellishment. Sometimes it requires the imagination to see beyond, or more of, what is in view. Painters do this all of the time, as editing an image is a great deal of what we do; what we reveal often requires removing or embellishing details to drive the story of the piece. To lead the eye, and the soul, of a viewer across - and into - a painting not a task to be taken lightly.
This landscape is not far from my home, and the barn within was recently demolished for a new neighborhood, and has been a regular delight to observe. Early morning has been the most common view for me in my passing, but it has most profoundly struck me in the Autumn and Winter. This is actually the second piece I’ve painted of this space. I’ve often pondered the history of this barn and the sprawling copse around it. I could almost feel the echo of its memories from the days it was a useful storehouse. And in its aged and broken down state, its facility and beauty were still apparent to me.
In painting this scene, starting with a warm under painting - which you can still see hints of in the thin washes and scratched areas - helped me enliven the wearing cold of winter. While I built up my layers of ever-increasing layers of cooler and bleaker color and value, I was drawn to a place of intimate melancholy. Not merely a sadness, but a reverie of my own state in relation to this scene. Who is willing to investigate me in my brokenness or my decrepitude? Who will see the years of toil and burden? The memories of rigor and strength for a greater purpose? Who might seek to restore and reinvigorate me for the joy ahead? Outside of my bride I can only think of One.
“What gain has the worker from his toil? I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. He has made everything beautiful in its time.” - Ecclesiastes 3:9-11a