" GARDEN RENDEZVOUS "
James Christensen
June 2002

950 Signed and Numbered Print 17.5" x 26.5 $185
250 Signed and Numbered Giclee Canvas 21" x 32" Email-price

 

June 2002 - Garden Rendezvous - James Christensen

A footfall breaks the silence as the mist drapes aimlessly about ruins that date back to the time of Avalon. The woman
in the painting has just heard the sound and turns in its direction. A rendezvous is about to take place . . . .

You cannot accuse Jim Christensen of being anything but an incurable romantic. While exploring the grounds of
Castle Combe in southern England, Jim found himself taken in by the mood of a foggy day and stunning a rock wall
that seethed a storied history. “This piece” Jim says, “is about a sense of place and the flights of fancy a location can
evoke if you let it.” 

Jim lost himself in the painting of the old stones and textures. He spent about a month working on the wall and far
less time painting the woman. “I felt my job here was to set the scene, to breathe life into a magical location.
However, what noise she heard and the meeting about to take place —that’s up to the viewer’s imagination.”

 

“I’ve always felt that defining a spiritual experience is very much like trying to define love. Writers and poets have
tried to express ‘love’ in words for hundreds of years. Some things we read give us a feeling or a cue about what love
is like, but nothing ever really gets it right. Love is beyond words. It is nonverbal and the attempt to explain it in
language trivializes the moment to some extent.

“Every once in a while the Lord will give you an ‘aha’ moment when he deems that you need one. For me, he chose
trash night. I was carrying the trash can down the driveway and all of a sudden I just lit up. I was consumed
with light and warmth. I can remember it today as clearly as the moment it happened. I thought I was on
fire. My soul was filled. I just stood there for seconds, holding the trash can, feeling out of space
and time. It then just gradually dissipated. 

“No words were spoken out loud, but when I set the trash can down, I thought, ‘I’m going to be called to serve
the Church.’ Even though I was anxious and felt overwhelmed and under qualified, I knew that the Lord
wanted me there and I knew that with his help, I could fulfill the calling. 

“I painted the fire in this image with gold leaf, so when from across the room, the gold catches the light
and reminds me of a twenty-nine-year-old junior high school teacher taking out the trash.”

Garden Rendezvous- James Christensen

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