Medium: Oil | Year: 2023 | Mayor’s Choice
I created Closer Walk With Thee for a competition in 2023, never expecting that God would teach me through the process. It became the first painting through which I recognized His guidance in my art.
As a child, I walked with His Son through the park of my mind. He was, and remains, my best friend. While painting this memory, I began to understand that the love I had longed for from my parents, but never received, had been with me through God all along.
My family told me to accept the way I was treated because no one could ever love me. Through this painting, I felt God answering those words: they were wrong. He and His Son have loved me every day of my life.
I painted this piece in oil and through many tears. It received Mayor’s Choice in the competition, but its deepest significance was personal: it marked the beginning of my healing.