This painting is very much in the same vein as my painting “Rock Bottom” (which can be seen here) Although it is in the same series, I wanted to explore a different take on being surrounded by darkness. Rock Bottom shows a great depiction of a person who has forgotten God, or doesn’t feel like they are worthy of God’s love. This painting, on the other hand, depicts a person who looks heavenward and still trusts in God even though they are also surrounded by darkness.
1. Nearer, my God, to thee,
Nearer to thee!
E’en though it be a cross
That raiseth me.
Still all my song shall be
Nearer, my God, to thee,
Nearer, my God, to thee,
Nearer to thee!
2. Though like the wanderer,
The sun gone down,
Darkness be over me,
My rest a stone,
Yet in my dreams I’d be
Nearer, my God, to thee,
Nearer, my God, to thee,
Nearer to thee!
3. There let the way appear,
Steps unto heav’n;
All that thou sendest me,
In mercy giv’n;
Angels to beckon me
Nearer, my God, to thee,
Nearer, my God, to thee,
Nearer to thee!
4. Then with my waking thoughts
Bright with thy praise,
Out of my stony griefs
Bethel I’ll raise;
So by my woes to be
Nearer, my God, to thee,
Nearer, my God, to thee,
Nearer to thee!
5. Or if, on joyful wing
Cleaving the sky,
Sun, moon, and stars forgot,
Upward I fly,
Still all my song shall be
Nearer, my God, to thee,
Nearer, my God, to thee,
Nearer to thee!
The inspiration for this painting comes from the hymn “Nearer, My God, to Thee.” (I’ve included the lyrics above, but if you want to hear the music, it can be found here.)
I’m specifically drawn to the fourth verse which doesn’t get sung very often in church services. It references the story of Jacob having a visionary dream and afterwards building an altar called Beth-el. (Genesis 28:10-22) In the hymn, it speaks of building the altar out of “my stony griefs.” This imagery really touched me that even when we are having trials and hard times, we can use those experiences to grow and connect with God on a deeper level that we couldn’t have before when we didn’t have those experiences.
You’ll notice that, although the words are faint, the rocks that make the altar each have some negative emotion etched on them. Words like “loss,” “grief,” and “despair” connect to deep emotional experiences. However, we don’t have to be buried by our experiences. We can use them to find and appreciate God. The Christian life can be filled with troubles and bumps in the road, but Jesus Christ understands the feelings we have and empathizes with us. As the fourth verse continues “so by my woes to be, nearer my God to Thee.” We can truly learn to be more like God.
As someone who has experienced a fair amount of tragedy in recent years, this painting was a labor of love. If you want to purchase this for yourself, you can shop here. Below I’ve provided a timelapse of the painting with some commentary on the process. This painting was painted in the Procreate iPad app, took 12 hours and 34 minutes to paint start to finish, and took 9680 individual paint-strokes to make. I hope you love it as much as I do.