This fall has been harder and more disorienting than I expected. One of its great gifts has been a painting commission from Ryan Spurrier for a prayer room he is designing (he is the Wesleyan minister at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill). He wanted a piece that incorporated the United Methodist baptismal liturgy, and that evoked water. One of the great difficulties in being a freelance-everything is the breathtaking lack of any external structure. And I am one of those people who get things done if there is a deadline; and otherwise, well…
Therefore, having someone expecting a particular thing from me at a particular time was an absolute Godsend. Thanks, Ryan. You helped me get my art room in working order again, find my watercolors and gouache and brushes and calligraphy nibs and metallic inks, get a light on the table and a chair in front of it, and got me actually to sit myself down and make something. Thanks also to Jeremy Begbie for the commission (at Duke Divinity) that inspired Ryan to get in touch.
Here it is, in stages.
