The Heart of the Matter: Songs of Love
It has been quite a while since I first started drawing hearts.
The journey began with a "Heart Drawing" workshop led by a local artist named Robert Burridge. Although the heart shape is common, the time spent exploring different, fun ways to draw it was the beginning. Even after the workshop ended, I continued on my own, creating various hearts in my own style. I drew the heart of a brightly smiling girl, and after completing it, I hung the heart of a shy, blushing teenage boy next to it.
When I wake up in the morning and turn on the lights, the line of their smiles within those hearts becomes prominent, beaming brightly at me. I would simply draw hearts as they came to my mind, hang the finished pieces on the wall, and have a quiet conversation over a cup of coffee. Their cheerful smiles offered a kind of healing for my own heart.
I’ve drawn a heart illustrating spring creeping in through a small keyhole on a door during the middle of winter, and another of a red-faced, tipsy heart falling into a wine barrel. I’ve drawn a heart climbing a ladder up a maple tree in autumn, and a hot heart completely submerged in red. Drawing hearts in all these ways was simply fun.
A Deeper Calling
Then, a profound shift occurred: I came to know God and experienced His love, which led me to delve even deeper into drawing hearts.
I wanted to express through my heart paintings the immense, healing love that caused a wellspring of hot, overwhelming emotion to rise from the depths of my soul—a feeling that brought me to tears. It was the love of the cross, the shedding of blood, the giving of everything, a sublime, unspeakable yet clear and unconditional love. It is the love that accepts me as I am, the love that says I am precious just as I am, and the love that treats me as the most valuable person.
I want to share God's love working within my life.
I continue the humble brushstrokes, repeatedly applying paint as if in meditation or spiritual practice. Each single stroke symbolizes the cross. As I paint freely and without excessive pressure, the strokes seem to take the shape of freely soaring birds. The birds appear to hold hands, flying together in flocks, representing a community that collaborates to achieve good.
As I paint, I meditate on Galatians 5:22–23, which says, 'But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.' I pray that the seeds of the Spirit planted within me will sprout and bear fruit in my life.
My skill may be far from adequate to contain all of my heart and soul, but I continue to paint with the faith and prayer that these pieces will evolve into beautiful art that brings glory to God.
12×12” Oil on Canvas
12×12” Oil on Canvas
9×12” Oil on Canvas
9×12” Oil on Canvas
