Kristen Grossman Prose

“How many are your works, LORD! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.” Psalm 104:24

One happy byproduct of sheltering-in-place is that my family has begun to paint together. As the weeks have gone by, we have added to our stash of painting supplies. Our dining room now sports canvases in several sizes, enough easels for five of us to paint at one time, and a variety of brushes and paints.

Our girls enjoy looking for pictures on the internet, replicating what they see, and adding their own personal touches. My husband has amazing artistic ability and can render beautiful paintings with or without a model to copy. Me? I prefer to settle down with my paints and a Bob Ross video. Bob’s soothing voice and easygoing style make painting relaxing and fun. (But how on earth did any novice painters follow along with him in the days before pause buttons were available?!)

[To paint this scene yourself, check out Bob Ross – Secluded Bridge (Season 10 Episode 4).]

Thanks to this new hobby, our home is now overflowing with our amateur artwork. Some good, some not-so-good. But all of them represent time spent relaxing, creating, and enjoying a chance to let go of the day’s worries.

A New Perspective

I’ve noticed that one side effect of this new pastime is that I tend to see the world around me a little more clearly. Instead of just glancing at a tree, I notice the curve of its trunk, the way the light plays among the leaves, the way the branches reach out toward the sun.

When gazing at a mountain vista in Lake Tahoe, I don’t merely reflect on the beauty I see. Instead, I admire the way little pockets of snow nestle in the crevices of the rocky crags. I marvel to see the sky is not just one shade of blue, but a beautiful gradient leading from azure directly above me to a dusky powder blue at the tops of the mountains on the horizon. I see how the sun sparkles on the lake, which has its own gradient from a brilliant ultramarine in the deeper areas to a gorgeous aquamarine in the shallows.

Furthermore, I consider how I would paint the scenery around me. What would Bob do? I imagine using a fan brush to replicate the evergreen boughs on tall, spiky Vandyke brown strokes of trunk. I picture myself mixing phthalo blue, sap green, and titanium white on my palette to begin the strokes that will become a blue sky. I imagine how I would scrape my painter’s knife down a canvas to deliver the shades of grey, black, and white that represent the snowy crags of the mountaintop.

God as the Master Painter

As I admire our Creator’s amazing handiwork, I realize that the time I have spent studying painting, however amateurish it has been, has opened my eyes to study His creation around me more deeply.

Surely, it is the same with time spent studying God’s Word. The more time I spend reading the Scriptures, meditating on the messages I find there, journaling, and praying, the more clearly I see the love and care my Creator has for me.

When I look at the Bible, instead of seeing a collection of stories and guidelines, I see the beautiful canvas that God has been painting since the moment he first blew life-giving breath into man. I see how He created humankind, knowing we would struggle, and stumble, and fall. Yet, He loves us and has set into motion a beautiful plan in which His beloved Son created a way for us to have a relationship with our Maker despite our shortcomings, flaws, and mistakes. Throughout Scripture, the hope and promise of Jesus Christ is a recurring illustration of the love God extends to us.

Imitating the Master

“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” James 1:22

The more I learn about God and the amazing plan He has for me and all humanity, the more I want to replicate His love and live out His purpose for me. I don’t want just to admire the words I read, I want to grab my paintbrush and sweep the color of His love through my life. I want to use the tools He holds out and imitate the brushstrokes He demonstrates.

It is a beautiful gift to have the words of the Master Artist, our mighty Creator, readily available to study, meditate on, and apply to the canvases of our own lives.

Dear Lord, thank you for the beauty of your creation. Thank you for the gift of art. Thank you for the reminder that you are the Master Painter and have given us the gift of a blueprint to follow as we practice to become more like You.