Toward the Dawn

Toward the Dawn explores the emergence of light from darkness: a visual meditation on hope, faith, and the mysterious work of renewal. 

The inspiration for this series grew from many mornings spent sitting quietly in the darkness, often in my own driveway, waiting for the first moments of sunrise. In those early hours, I would sit with God: praying, listening, reflecting, and simply waiting. There was something profound about being surrounded by darkness while knowing that light was already on its way. 

Many of the paintings in this series are dark. They dwell in that space before sunrise, where light has not yet fully broken through. But the darkness is not the end. It is the place from which the light emerges. 

The biblical image in 2 Corinthians 4:6 lies at the heart of the work: the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness is the same God who shines His light into our hearts. The natural world—whether experienced from a quiet driveway before sunrise or at the shoreline where sea, sky, and light meet—becomes a way of contemplating this mystery. 

Working slowly through layers of mineral pigment, surface, color, and light, I allow each painting to develop gradually. Each of the many layers of darkness is not simply painted over, but laid down as preparation, making way for the light that will eventually break through. In this way, the process itself becomes a kind of prayer: each layer a small act of trust that what is unseen is already being prepared. 

Toward the Dawn is not simply about sunrise. It is about trusting God in the darkness, knowing that each layer of darkness we pass through is not wasted, but is quietly making way for a light that may not yet be visible, and is already coming.