The Great Tempest
Though the storm rages, though the waves may beat on the side of my ship, I know God remains in control in the midst of "The Great Tempest"
36x48” Acrylic on canvas
This painting is all about fear and how you must push through it. The sea always makes for good analogy for life as it is so unpredictable and you can never tell if the next wave will pull you closer to shore or if it will push you further into the deep. This reflects life perfectly. If we don’t know what will happen, what gives us the courage to carry on? For me personally it is my faith in God and trust in Jesus Christ! In the initial stages of this painting I wanted to include a faded silhouette on the water but after trying it I decided against it. I feel that this scene on it’s own brings the point to bear, especially after the Corona Virus affected the world in such an intense way. This just brings me back to the unpredictability of life. As your eye travels from the giant wave in the foreground into the horizon, you are caught up to the dark clouds where lightning strikes and billows roll. All I know is, if I were in a boat and this was my outlook, I would be afraid and then I would pray.
You may notice as you scrolled down that the painting stepped backward in time. I really love taking process shots for this reason as it allows me to look back on my process and appreciate where the painting began to take shape and how I solved the problems as they arose. This painting took me about a week of work, several hours of painting after work each day. It is the most time I have ever spent on a single painting, but I would, and probably will do it again in a heartbeat! I very much enjoy the process of painting any landscape, or seascape in this case. Initially I was going to try using white oil paint over some of the brightest parts, but then I decided against it as I liked it as it was. That is part of the art, finding a balance between being satisfactorily complete and over done. It is surely a delicate balance and a fine line for if you step over that line it may deplete the integrity of the painting.