2010 36″ x 54″ acrylic
November 2009 I wanted to get back to doing some painting. I only had small canvases at home and I really wanted to paint another large painting. I had no reason for doing this, so I shelved the idea.
Two weeks later my friend Marquerete phoned me and asked me to paint a painting for her music room. She said she wanted it to be a LARGE painting! Wow! I now had the reason I needed
I asked her lots of questions to find out what she sees in her mind when this music comes to her. She told me she feels like she is swooping on the back of a bird, it takes her breath away. She often sees a waterfall.
I sensed the colours it should be. I kept finding things in these colours and knowing they were the colours I should use.
In a vision, I saw swirls of these “jewel-like” colours and they were vibrating in such a way that I realised the colours were actually singing, without sound. Then a bright light appeared in the middle of the colours. I said, “What’s that?” and was told “The stars are joining in”. More stars appeared and then more of creation. It reminded me of the breathtaking experience and sense of awe we have when we take in a beautiful view and I thought that maybe, somehow, it was caused by the silent praise song of creation that is always rising up to God. I realised that this was what I was to paint, all creation raising songs of praise to God depicted in colour. So that’s how Psalm 148 began.
I painted the earth, trees, waterfall, mountains and sunrise. After painting the sunrise, I wasn’t happy with how it looked. The next day, I had to be at an appointment at 7 am and that morning as I was driving, I saw an amazing sunrise. The appointment was cancelled and I rushed home to paint what I saw. Here again I felt the Lord leading me in how I was to paint this painting.
Marquerete had not been given any music for this painting but by the time I was to venture into painting “the heavenlies” singing in colour along with all creation, the music came to her. She put it down on CD for me and I would play it as I painted. What a blessing!
I was privileged to be able to experience hours of joining creation in praise and worship, being led step by step in all the tiny details of what to paint and being enabled beyond my natural ability to do it.