Longing for home is the sense of alienation in where we are and the longing to be in a place where we are known, loved, and where we belong. In my artwork, the rolling hills of Virginia are an analogy for life and death. In this painting, the rolling hills of Sky Meadows are me analogy for heaven. This place is so precious to me and gives us a glimpse into the possibility of what is the future heaven. The convening of the hounds and the riders and horses here is a reunion with those that have gone before us. Virginia gives me a glimpse of what is ahead and what my soul is longing for. The longing for home pulses through us because we are alienated from our heavenly home. A heavenly home that we were created for— a desire which is built into our very soul. On earth we build homes for our physical bodies- but our souls were built for heaven.

" A man's physical hunger does not prove that he will get any bread; he may die of starvation on a raft in the Atlantic. But surely a man's hunger does prove that he comes from a race which repairs its body by eating and inhabits a world where eatable substances exist. In the same way...my desire for Paradise proves that I shall enjoy it, I think it a pretty good indication that such a thing exists and that some men will." -Lewis 

I hope these ideas course through in all my artwork; they certainly do as I paint.