I recently submitted a piece to a contest with the theme of Faith and Culture. Here's what I submitted:

 

Old Oak

by Lauren Cunningham

oil on cavas

This painting was made in memory of my Bochie (grandmother), who had a wonderful large oak tree in front of her house.  The oak was special, partly because of the beauty in its vastness, but also because it was a part of us.  Everyone in my family has swung in its swing—high enough to see the edge of the world—and climbed among its branches.

            I depicted the tree in winter, a season when nothing seems to grow.  Grief is so similar. In the depths of winter it is hard to imagine the existence of the sun, and yet, springtime comes.  In life, when we see the last of many leaves fall from the branches in a loved one’s life, it surely feels like life is over.  But as Christians, we have hope that there is life within the tree and that in spring our hope will be realized. 

P.S. Thanks to those friends who helped me edit this. There is a reason that I am a painter and not a writer.