The Wonderful Words for this Wednesday are “Bloom in darkness”

There are seasons in life where we find ourselves surrounded by confusion, chaos, shadows, clouds, and maybe even complete darkness.  If you’ve been alive on earth for long, you have experienced one or more of these seasons.

This painting was born out of the feeling of being in the dark and today I’m going to share a very personal story about how God spoke to me whilst I painted this flower just the other day.  I’m still taking in the whole experience!

The Story

This painting started as big splotches of color on white watercolor paper.  I had not a single intention but to put colors I love onto paper.  As I stepped back and watched it dry, I saw it needed to be a flower, one single big beautiful bloom.  

I scrolled through my photos ( I take endless reference photos of flowers I see everywhere and anywhere) and found the perfect one.  I began to sketch the flower over the colors with water soluable crayons and add shading to the obvious spots.  

When the flower was sketched in, I wanted to paint the background and oddly chose the color ‘Paynes Gray’ (not my go to for a background generally!).  So I painted this dark bluey gray around my bright beautiful flower.  

Often when I’m in the middle of painting something, I’ll put it upright on a shelf where I can have a better vantage point and see what it needs, so I propped this bloom up on a shelf so I could view it. 

This one baffled me because it was off.  When you paint shadows, you have to think about where the light is coming from (often from the top left or top right) and in this darkness, how could there be light?  My shading seemed off because I couldn’t make sense of where the light would be coming from.  

It was nighttime so I decided to just sleep on it.  I went to bed and when I had to go the the bathroom in the wee hours of the morning, I looked at the painting again.  This painting was driving me crazy!  There was something not quite right and I couldn’t figure it out.  

I started thinking, “well, I love the gist of this painting, I could just start over’, but the painting was so intuitive I knew I couldn’t replicate it if I tried.  So back to sleep I went.  

In the morning, I revisited my flower and suddenly realized that the light was not coming from an outside source at all, it was coming from within the flower itself.  It was being lit from the center all the way out to the ends of each gorgeous petal.  

I finally understood, and the phrase, “When darkness surrounds you, find the light within” entered my mind unbiddingly.  

Here’s what happened, God spoke to me through my art.  He guided my hands, me completely unaware, and He painted a truth for me that I needed to hear.

This kind of magic happens when we completely succumb to the creative process.  What I’m learning is that you cannot set out to do this, but what you can do is get the supplies out that you love, and try not to have any intentions when you begin, just begin.  Let the art unfold as you go, the unknowing is part of the process, just like life!

I am awestruck at this moment.  There are not very many times in life where one is 100% confident that God is speaking directly to you, but this was one of those times.  

If you are reading this, and you don’t believe in God, that is okay, as this is very personal.  I normally don’t share my deepest beliefs like this, but I felt this one needed to be shared.

The Moral of the Story Is:

I don’t need light shown on me from the upper left or the upper right, or anywhere, my light comes from within.  Nothing can put it out, not circumstances, not pain, not confusion, it is always there, steady and true. It will shine even in the darkest blackest night and light the path, sometimes only one step at a time, but that is enough, it is all I need. 

Thank you for reading all the way to the end.  I am sharing deep today and trusting you with my innermost thoughts.

If you know someone who might be in a dark season, perhaps forward this to them if you think it could encourage them.

Until next time!

Kimberly Snider, Virtuoso, Signing Off

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