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Nicholas, in: The Parable of The Weeds.

There is an incredibly rich landscape to behold when one studies the Parable of The Weeds. The image is conceived by use of my painting media and the materials I find in my garden. My process includes the study of Holy Scripture in particular the Parables of Jesus, the paintings are look inward. There are some reminiscences of my childhood where I grew up on our farm. I placed a portrait of a child in the painting to possibly to raise the question: “What kind of harvest will this child bring” ?

We know the story of the farmers field hands who run to him with the news that the weeds are growing in the wheat, and they ask him, in a cooperative spirit, if he wants them to pull up the weeds.

The farmer says: “An enemy has done this”. And then he says “No”. “Pull up evil and you'll pull up goodness right along with it”. But then comes the most remarkable word in Jesus's parable: “Aphete [let, permit, suffer] both to grow together until harvest”.

When we think of the Lords prayer ( forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors) we can deduce that the farmers answer to the malice of the enemy is yet another Aphete, a letting be, a forgiveness.

I think the real world, the lives of real people are to be dealt with by letting be. Meaning we do not ask Jesus: “Who's side are you on”? I believe we are all in His Field. He has sown his spirit into the world since the beginning of time.

If the viewer experiences a wave of emotion, of mystery and beauty, then I have done my work.

Art is an expression of the spirituality in the human person.