Moon and Dune Flowers, egg tempera painting, 2013

Moon and Dune Flowers is a quiet, humble painting. Simple at first glance, yet it speaks of deeper things. I think it is about light and hope.

Over the years, I have painted many seascapes. One day, while walking up the dunes toward the beach, l listened for the familiar sound of the surf, felt the sea breeze and inhaled the salty air. Ah, this!

I began thinking… how do you paint the unseen, the thing that lifts your spirits and makes your heart sing?

How do you give form to an idea you know exists, something whose presence you can sense? How do you go beyond the visible surface and paint the power of the ocean, or the greater and unseen power of God?

Maybe a painting cannot fully express such things, but it can give us pause to notice the beauty and mystery around us. It can remind us that we are not alone. Maybe that is how a painting, and any one of us, can offer hope to another person in an uncertain world.

There are moments when the world feels overwhelmingly large, and we feel very small within it. We see the problems around us, the uncertainty and the noise, and sometimes wonder what difference one person can really make.

Maybe this painting is a quiet statement about hope, humility, and the power of simple beauty to inspire our hearts and minds. It reminds me that light does not have to be enormous to matter.

A pale moon hangs in a clear blue sky. Light rises from below, seeming to come from the flowers, though it is actually reflected from the sea.

On the crest of the dune, a small bouquet of flowers rises from the grasses—modest and almost easy to overlook. Nothing in the scene shouts for attention. And yet, there is something deeply hopeful about it.

The light is there. The flowers are growing. Life continues.

We do not always have to do something extraordinary to be a light in the world. Sometimes being a light means offering a kind word when someone is blue, listening while another talks, forgiving when it would be easier to hold on to resentment, or simply showing up for someone who feels alone.

Our light may seem small to us, but we rarely know how much another person may need it.

A single candle can make a dark room brighter. Flowers do not have to cover an entire dune to bring beauty to the landscape. Sometimes a simple gesture will do: a smile, a word, a text.

Every day, we have opportunities to bring a little more kindness, hope, patience, compassion, and love into the world. We may never see the full effect of those small acts, but their influence can travel outward like ripples in water. Do not underestimate the light you carry.

The moon in this painting is not trying to compete with the sky. The flowers are not trying to become a garden. They simply are what they are. Together, in the all-encompassing Light, they create something beautiful.

Together, let’s make the world more beautiful. Each day, we can look for an opportunity to be a little light.

Encourage someone. Offer a helping hand. Make someone smile. Choose grace. Speak hope.

You do not have to change the whole world.

Bloom wherever you are planted.

Peace be to you.