This 2013 painting is the family portrait version of my 2004, "Stories Converge." The 5 figures in this image were formed using a stencil created from a 2008 painting my daughter did of our family. She was 5 at the time, but the freshness of her mark-making was destined...

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for legacy. It's one of my favorites.

Much like in "Stories Converge," a city on a hill concept is here represented by a pair of 3-story buildings nestled atop a black, bulky, stone-structure (a hill with windows!), and we see again the glowing spires of a celestial city converging upon this one. In the scene, agricultural land produces its bounty as it is nourished by an abundant source--a river resembling the shapes and meanderings of the Jordan. Three birds encircle this scene as a luminous grid-work is exposed from beneath the figures and forms. This grid represents work of human hands (pixels, structures, screens, spreadsheets, fields... Why do we always make grids?).

To my frequent surprise, the integration achieved by the combination of human endeavor and divine intentionality is beautifully purposeful.

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