Sweet Hour

Sweet Hour, 18x24", mixed media, SOLD

I just noticed that it has been 8 months since my last post about my artwork. If you keep up with me on social media, you may know that those months have been a long stretch of grief, loss and personal challenges, that culminated with my dad's passing at the end of February.

I painted "Sweet Hour" last fall amid a flurry of pet portrait Christmas commissions. The technique of combining various papers including Korean Hanji paper and song lyrics (of the hymn "Sweet Hour of Prayer") beneath the surface of the painted landscape was intended to draw the viewer in closer, to linger, and to question whether there is more to be discovered than is understood at first glance. (You can click on the painting to zoom in.)

Similarly, many of us are walking through daily life with more beneath the surface than what others encounter at first. The weird thing about grief is that it feels like, for the one grieving, time stands still, while the rest of the world zooms along as always. I wanted to capture a sense of that uncomfortable reality in this work.

When I first encountered this scene on a walk one fall day, I was taken by the beauty of its melancholic mood. Melancholy can be off-putting, especially for those running at high speeds through life, lacking the bandwidth to sit with those who might be struggling. But for me, this season is beautiful in that it pushed me into the arms of Jesus, often meeting with Him out in the woods. He has walked beside me in my sweet hours of prayer, explaining life to me, detailing His love for me, encouraging, relieving and challenging me. We may desire to run from "seasons of distress and grief," but truly they are blessings, even while they are painful.

Here are the words to the hymn for which this painting was named. I hope that these words bring you comfort and direction if you are in your own season of distress and grief. And if you are, feel free to message me--I would love the opportunity to bless and pray for you.

Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!

That calls me from a world of care,

And bids me at my Father’s throne

Make all my wants and wishes known.

In seasons of distress and grief,

My soul has often found relief,

And oft escaped the tempter’s snare,

By thy return, sweet hour of prayer!

Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!

The joys I feel, the bliss I share,

Of those whose anxious spirits burn

With strong desires for thy return!

With such I hasten to the place

Where God my Savior shows His face,

And gladly take my station there,

And wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!

Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!

Thy wings shall my petition bear

To Him whose truth and faithfulness

Engage the waiting soul to bless.

And since He bids me seek His face,

Believe His Word and trust His grace,

I’ll cast on Him my every care,

And wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!