Transfiguration
“When despair for the world grows in me...
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things...
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.”
~ excerpt from Wendell Berry’s poem “The Peace of Wild Things”
On July 26, 2026, my newest painting “Transfiguration” was unveiled as part of All Saint’s Episcopal Church’s 75-year Jubilee Celebration. Installed in the nave above the door, it reminds us of the power of grace and transformation. It is a window into the “grace of the world” as the poet says.
The journey of the painting was a kind of transformation. I painted the first calla lily on April 8, 2026.
Over 3 months, painting nearly every day, the painting emerged into being. From hundreds of reference photos shot in the church’s meditation garden, I designed the painting and began with the first layers of oil paint.
At times, I doubted the painting – and myself. I added and subtracted leaves, put in more wisteria petals here and there, and painted the entire sky twice.
And then one day, the painting appeared whole and radiantly itself. I had surrendered to the unknowable and (however unwittingly) invited in the miracle of transformation.
Transfiguration, Oil on Linen, 96 x 51.5”
“Transfiguration” is a sacred work. Nine calla lilies raise their voices, announcing the miracle of renewal. Boughs of wisteria, the most evanescent of spring flowers, remind us of strength within seeming weakness. And a single butterfly flutters heavenwards in the full glory of her transformation. These flowers are messengers and their beauty calls us to ponder the power of hope, faith, grace and transformation.
