Painting can be Worship

I was asked if I would paint, at the front of our church, during worship.  Yikes!  I said okay, and they told me the theme of the service would be "Joy" and to paint what brings me joy.  That would be pansies of course. I just have to look at them and I smile.  Unfortunately, the person organizing the event, called the night before the service and said they had made a mistake and the theme would be "Hope" not "Joy".

I love change, but I'm not good at painting something I haven't given a lot thought to and I'm definitely not a painting-a-day artist. Hmmm... Pansies are one of the first garden flowers for sale in the spring.  To me they say that winter is over and the warm summer breezes will soon be here. I think that Pansies are a perfect symbol of hope.  I'm not sure if anyone else caught that but it didn't matter.  I had a wonderful time painting to the awesome worship music coming from the band on stage and I look forward to doing it every Sunday of advent. 

My ten minute Pansy.  I posted it at a distance so you see what the congregation saw and not the sloppy details up close.  16"x20"acrylic on stretched canvas.