The Portland Head Light "Matthew 5:14" | Watercolor on arches paper
I painted the original for this print in watercolor from a photo I took of The Portland Head Light in Portland, Maine a couple summers ago. At the time, due to some challenges with my health/disability I hadn’t been on a vacation or traveled in quite a few years. Hearing the sound of the waves, watching the sailboats go by, and seeing a lighthouse for the first time, I experienced a moment of perfect bliss, peace, beauty and freedom after such a long one spent mostly isolated, in pain, in a room alone. I was reminded in that moment that though I am so used to the isolation and pain of my past and can tend to be timid and want to return to hiding because of that, I wasn’t made to hide the light inside me or the stories of restoration that have come out of those broken times. Like Matthew 5:14 says, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden,” we were made to let our light shine boldly and beautifully.