SOLD at Art in the Park

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760 x 760 Oil on canvas SOLD

Sanctuary

A place that is holy

A place where you come to encounter the divine

A place that is safe

A place where protection abides

Sanctuary

And so, hubby and I stand on the side of Lake Tekapo

There is cloud cover this evening

But the light is still deep and warm

Lake and mountains

Sky and land

The rocky shore adorned with a million lupine flowers

For just a moment, the evening sun breaks through

And all is illuminated

While I take photos of the lake and mountains

Hubby turns around, and takes one of the Good Shepherd Church

We came down South this spring to capture vistas of the landscape to paint

But weather and light have not been kind to us this trip

And of a few thousand photos

This is the only one that calls to my heart

This little stone church

Sanctuary

The view from within the Church is glorious

But this scene I paint does not take in the lake and mountains

Instead it is looking back

This moment when the colours of the lupines have become translucent

Each stone and rock lit up

There is a cairn of stacked stones among the flowers

Speaking to those who have built it

Who have no doubt moved on

It speaks to all those who have stood here

Leaving a light footprint on this place

The shore was strewn with people in reverence,

On the evening that was the inspiration for this painting,

Taking photos of the lupines.

There was a shared awareness between us, of this moment of beauty.

The little stone church

Is simply another mound of stone

Built just a heartbeat earlier than the cairns

In a rougher time

When sanctuary was so needed

But sanctuary has always been needed

Those moments where we stop

Where we shelter

Where we remember that we are loved by a Good Shepherd

Where we remember that we are remembered

We are part of this glory

Part of this moment

Loved

The glory around us reminds us that we too are glories

The light that shines on the lake and mountains, rocks and flowers

Shines in us too

Sanctuary is here

Reminding us to stop

To know our worth

To breathe deep

To reflect the glory of creator

Of Universe

For me

To reflect the glory of The Good Shepherd

I am loved

I am sheltered

I am planted here

In this moment

The world may rage

The storms may brew

But beauty has never departed

Sanctuary is only as far away as the breath in our lungs

As the beat in our heart

This is our time

Our place

We are like the lupines

Glorious for but a moment

And then gone

But that moment was an eternal moment

The lupines will flower again next spring

But the ones I have painted here,

Each flower faithfully represented in colour and form

Will never be again

This is part of what makes them so precious

The stones of the Good Shepard Church remain

But the builders have long ago left this world

And yet the evening light still breaks thought the clouds this spring

To light up their work

Glory

I am reminded that what I do

As I live in this world each day

Counts

I leave a mark

This is my time

So I make sure I stop

Breathe

Take in the beauty

Be lit by the light

Till I remember that I am part of it

Sanctuary is here

In this spacious place within me