During the stay-at-home years of Covid, I spent a good amount of time outdoors in my own yard. Both my front and back yards are pretty large, and we have a wonderful covered back patio; so virtual schooling took place outside almost every day under the watchful eyes of our dog and cats but also the squirrels, birds, turtles, and lizards we share our yard with. The more time we spent outside the more I "saw." It tends to happen that when we spend a lot of time in a certain area we start to really notice things - all the details, flaws, areas for improvement. And like I said, our yard was nice, but most of it wasn't very pleasing to the eye. As I looked around our yard, I started to envision what it could look like. I also realized I didn't have the knowledge to design or cultivate a beautiful garden, but hours upon hours of Internet research later, watching rainfall and drainage patterns off our roofline, tracking sun and shade areas and times, and learning about growing zones prepared me well enough to start the process with a small degree of confidence.
The key word being process. I soon figured out that gardening and cultivating growth are things I will be accumulating more and more knowledge in over time as I gain actual experience with my hands in the dirt. Isn't that true of all growth? It's never a one and done thing. Nothing good ever is. It's a wonderful process that is truly on-going if we keep our hearts and minds humble as well as patient while remaining expectant. This is certainly the case with spiritual growth. It's also the case with my art practice.
And this small (but developing) collection I've titled "Held Together" is the combined result of growth in my gardening, artistic, and spiritual journeys and the inspiration I've gathered from all three of these.
Garden Parables
When Jesus was on the earth, He spoke in parables using examples from the daily lives of the people and culture He was ministering to. He taught in agricultural terms mentioning harvesting, types of soil, seed growth. He taught in terms of viticulture like wine presses and wine skins, vine growth, pruning. And He taught in terms of animal husbandry when He spoke extensively on shepherding a flock. In His mercy and kindness, Jesus was speaking of lofty, heavenly things in terms lowly, earthly people could understand. He didn't want what He was saying to go over their heads, but to captivate hearts that were seeking to know Him.
Our wonderful Savior still speaks to us this way today. Mostly through His Word, the Bible, which is for everyone. But He speaks to us personally as we go about our daily lives too. For me, this happens when I'm outside observing the life in my garden, providing care for the plants and creatures - watering thirsty soil, pruning unruly growth, picking stubborn weeds, removing damaging parasites, planting new flowers and shrubs, filling bird feeders and bird baths, making sure the turtles get their meal worms, and designing new seasonal beds and pots to reflect the beauty of a new time of growth. While I'm doing this, the Holy Spirit whispers what I call "garden parables" to my heart. As I go about each task, He is teaching me timeless spiritual truths that are found in His Word and playing out before my eyes, right here in my yard amidst the bugs and blooms, the dirt and weeds, the dying and the growing. All of it beautiful.
I ponder these quiet moments with God in my garden. But the artist side of me longs to capture the beauty and wonder of God's created world and convey these truths and parables through paint on paper or canvas. The people of God are supposed to be known by our spoken, shared, and lived testimony. One way I long to share my story of faith and what God has done for me is through my art. It's one part of my ever-developing testimony.
There's so much I could share about what God has taught me through the joy and extremely hard work of gardening. But for now, I just want to speak to specifics of this collection of art and the multifaceted idea of being "Held Together."
"Held Together"
In gardening, there's this concept called companion planting. This is the practice of growing different plants near each other for mutual benefit - such as pest deterrence, pollination, nutrient sharing, growth enhancement, and improvement of soil health. As a believer, when I read this, I automatically think of New Testament descriptions of how Jesus desires the body of believers (His Church) to operate in the world.
"From Him the whole body, fitted and held together by that which it supplies, in accordance with the functioning of each part, gives increase to the body so that it may build itself up in love." EPHESIANS 4:16
CONCEPT
The primary example here is of the human body - unity in the midst of diversity, all the parts existing for the whole. But I see the same concept in a lush bouquet of flowers, well-designed landscaping or potted container, a raised garden bed, backyard gardens, and fields of wildflowers. A unified vision of beauty displayed in complementary colors, heights, textures, fullnesses, and purposes.
DESIGN
As I was creating these pieces, this was the cohesive concept behind my inspiration overall. The design or layout of the pieces was inspired by a scarf my great grandmother gifted to me. Scarves usually have wonderful borders that hold the design together, and my great grandmother was definitely a unifying force in our family. If you look closely at these pieces, you will notice the scarf-like, textile-inspired borders framing each piece and gathering the imagery together into a collective whole.
SUBJECT MATTER
As far as subject matter inspiration goes, I used the companion planting concept to create floral patterns to represent diverse yet cohesive groupings like families, friendships, spots in my garden, floral bouquets, a collective of indoor plants, native Southern plants and trees, and of course, the aforementioned scarf with appearances by one of my favorite flowers, the Hydrangea. I want these pieces to highlight the beauty that exists when a diversity of personality types with different giftings, talents, and minds come together with a unified purpose - not competing to outshine each other or magnify one part over the other but to enhance, and make better and more beautiful the whole.
The world will see Jesus more clearly when His people are "standing firm in one spirit, with one mind, striving side by side for the faith of the gospel" PHILIPPIANS 1:27.
*As of now, most of the pieces in the "Held Together" Collection are still available for purchase - Fine Art Originals.