sunrise – Melanie Stokes Art

February 23, 2023February 23, 2023

New Every Morning

melaniestokesart.com — New Every Morning
24×30 oil

This view: this huge expanse of a sky, with only a few distant wind turbines breaking the horizon, is what I see each morning when I walk out on my front porch. The colors, the shapes, the atmosphere, the smells or sounds may vary from day to day. But one thing I know for sure is that the view is going to be there. It will be new to me, every morning.

And it reminds me of an Old Testament Bible verse,

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22-23

Written at a time when God’s people had truly messed up, the prophet Jeremiah was lamenting all that was wrong. Yet, he doesn’t give up hope in the steadfast love of God and His faithfulness. He believed that God would not turn his back, would not grow weary of their shortcomings, would not hold back His love from them. New beginnings are welcomed by the God who provides a way for us to give up and start over. His mercies are new every morning!

And when I walk to the door, with my morning coffee, the sunrise reminds me that it is a new day, a new beginning, a new grace, an opportunity to be better than the day before, with God’s strength and through His love.

February 21, 2023February 22, 2023

Breakthrough!

I woke up early. It was a cold, cobalt blue kind of morning sky. I wasn’t sure if the sun was going to appear to warm the earth, or not. But when it did…WOW…the yellows and oranges spilled out, breaking through the shadows of blues, until the sky was brilliant with a breakthrough of color!

Can you remember times in your life when you had breakthroughs? For example, when someone helped explain something in Math that just seemed impossible to comprehend and then suddenly, you said, “Oh, now I get it!!” Now, that was a breakthrough. (hypothetically speaking, of course)

This painting reminds me that breakthroughs are good. Searching for truth and understanding is good. Looking for guidance with wisdom is good. Breakthroughs may change the way we look at the day ahead, as we are reminded of the Presence of God.

January 4, 2020

Dark Before Light

This 30×40 canvas has been on my mind for a few weeks or months. I wanted something big on a particular wall in our new home and I wanted to capture the sunrises that we enjoy on this Texas Prairie. Using one of my photos, I painted big and was pleased enough to hang it, …only to walk by later and take it down to rework the sky, …several times. After another afternoon of painting and reworking, I walked out to “let it sit.”

Funny how when you are in the middle of a painting, it seems to sit there in your unconscious state for days, just waiting to be worked out. Anybody else? Well, our pastor made a statement that was an “aha” for me. He said, “You have to paint the whole picture, before you can see the light.” Now, he was not giving painting advice. It was much more spiritual than that. But those words wedged their way into what was going on in my own mind about how to solve this puzzle of putting light and dark on my canvas.

I wiped off as much as I could of what I had painted the day before, mixed up a dark blue and covered over the light. And I left to let it dry. (such patience) Only then was I able to pop in the light of the sun, waking us to another day.

So often we have to see the whole picture, the darkness that was there to begin with, before we can appreciate the change that is made with light.

Another fun fact to share — this 30×40 canvas has a painting of a dark swamp underneath. It was one of the darkest paintings I have ever done. When it didn’t sell, I decided to cover it with white gesso and use it again. So it truly has gone from darkness to light!