Grateful eyes

The artists whose works I love are those that reflect the beauty of God’s creation: Georgia O’Keeffe, Claude Monet, Winslow Homer, Paul Cézanne, Carlos Trinidad*, Lydia Velasco*, Jun Alfon, to name a few. I am sure you have your own list of favorites.

Their paintings are so arresting, they evoke happy emotions from this beholder. What’s even more beautiful is that these magnum opuses do not come from nothing; they mirror our God-given lives as grateful eyes see them.

Carlos Trinidad, for instance, illustrates happy people enjoying various activities in images that seem to move vigorously (see photo below); Lydia Velasco demonstrates the warmth and love between mother and child, and kinship among women; Jun Alfon makes members of a marginalized tribe come alive in vibrant colors. 

"Catch the Pig" Oil on canvas 48 x 48 by Carlos Trinidad

If we, non-artists, could only try to see the beauty in everything as well, we can get a glimpse of the perfection of God’s creation, and experience unbridled joy with which He intended to gift us: a baby gurgling; grandchildren playing; old friends coming together to celebrate anything; showers pelting the roof after a long, hot summer; the sun shining after three days of rain; flowers blooming; vines covering walls; plus many more.

Remember Ecclesiastes 3:11? “. . . God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.” 

The grace we behold with grateful eyes in this life is just a foretaste of the eternal beauty yet to come in the eternal life of those who believe in Him.

*Some of their works are posted on ArtThrobs, Facebook page.