About the Painting: Be Still and Know

It felt like a big commitment, tearing this huge piece of canvas from the fresh roll that had just arrived in the mail.

It felt like an even bigger commitment to cover it almost entirely in one large swatch of green.

I was intimated yet excited by the idea of dedicating a 48" x 48" painting to my favorite color — the color that always feels like rest and the peace of Jesus.

I shook off the nerves, picked up my brush, and began painting a large square of pastel green all over the canvas.

As I stood back from the painting, I was suddenly unsure where to take it next. What I made felt more like a foundation than a finished work, and I wondered what I should add to the green square that now sat before me. 

Rather than force anything, I tacked the canvas to my wall and moved on to my next project.

I make a lot of my paintings in phases. When something’s not working right away, I’ve taught myself to walk away from the unfinished piece, expecting to either tackle it later or add to the surface in layers over time.

Days passed, and this big green canvas hung patiently on my wall.

I can’t remember how I felt on the afternoon when I picked up a pigment stick and began moving my hands in broad, loose loops around the surface. I may have been drawing inspiration from Cy Twombly’s chalkboard paintings (I have a book of his art that always sits on my studio shelf). I might have been feeling the need to release some stress with the relaxing process of pushing my materials around and around in circles.

Regardless, I began this repetitive motion of adding to the canvas and continued in short stretches of time for a few days in a row. What appeared on the finished surface resembled illegible messages and prayers layered overtop of one another in a vast field of green.

Be Still and Know, in process, 2022

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that a painting inspired by the color of rest now hung before me with the texture and movement of a soft, grassy meadow.

After stretching the work, I gave it the name Be Still, and Know, after Psalm 46:10 in the Bible:

“He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;

    I will be exalted among the nations,

    I will be exalted in the earth.”

This phrase, “Be still and know that I am God,” is an invitation to pause and reflect on the reminder that God is in control no matter what happens in my life. No matter the daily stresses or worries... Because God is with me, I can truly rest.

With its meadow-like texture and peaceful shade of green, I hope this painting (now available as a print) can help bring reminders of rest and peace to your space.

To shop the Be Still and Know Matte Print, click here.

To see my new collection of prints, click here.

For the next seven days, I’m running a Black Friday sale. Use the code JOY2023 for 15% off all prints.

Thank you for reading!

Anna