#3 Kathryn Nellis: For Nothing Is Impossible with God

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Artist's note:  I once heard a friend describe our efforts in life as an endless, pointless cycle. We try really hard, maybe succeed for a while, but ultimately things take their own course, no matter what we do. I related to the feeling: I too wonder what difference my efforts make, and how I can ever know what is right.






But I couldn't really agree; I couldn't suppress the certainty that our feeble efforts matter. I'm not saying that they earn us favor with God, or even amount to quantifiable good.
 

But our efforts, surrendered, allow God to work (He respects our rights too much to force us). Our obedience opens the door for God to do the impossible.











This painting is an attempt to describe that process; the messy and painful human efforts, the relaxing of our striving into a trusting obedience to God, and the breathless moment when He "touches down" and quickens what was dead.

The tangling, dripping, and scratches to the left symbolizes our work, beautiful for its struggle, but chaotic and incomplete.
 

The crux of painting, where the descending gold/blue meets the brown and yellow in a brilliant red smudge, describes the moment of surrender and the impossible intervention of God. On our own we would be caught in a hopeless cyclical system. But God - praise Him! - enters in.

Kathryn Nellis is a painter, musician, and creative genius.  She studied at Gordon College and in Orvieto, Italy, and currently works as a self-employed artist in Chester County, Pennsylvania.

Website: http://katiejoynellisart.com/

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