Wholly Surrendered (2025)

Wholly Surrendered marks the beginning of a spiritual return. Painted after a three-month creative block following an unexpected layoff from my corporate career, the work emerged from a season of uncertainty that led me to an artist retreat in Key West in search of clarity and reconnection with both myself and God. In that solitude, I began releasing perfectionism and pride that had long shaped my life and creative practice. The title comes from the lyric “sweetly broken, wholly surrendered,” which lingered in my mind as both invitation and prayer.

The painting’s oceanic atmosphere was shaped in part by the hymn It Is Well, particularly the lyric “sorrows like sea billows roll,” alongside the Biblical story of Jesus calming the storm. I chose to paint the moment just before the raging waves were calmed to reflect the way faith often deepens at the edge of surrender. Hidden within the waves is a concealed conch shell, a subtle reference to Key West and the personal journey that brought this painting into being.

As the first large-scale work in the Divine Maps collection, the painting became an act of trust, yielding to the movement and emotions that surfaced as I returned to my creativity with reverence and restraint.