Written by Dionne White
Painted August 2015
You can bloom “After the rain”
Sitting in front of my easel at my art table, I envisioned a single flower on my canvas. Pink or maybe purple, I thought I would make it. Vibrant, tall and strong it would be with its face pointing upward toward the heavens. As I eyed the blank slate in front of me I pondered “what kind of flower should I make it.” So I searched butterflies and flowers, one of my favorite combinations. I seemed to have been in a season of painting butterflies too. At least the Lord was allowing me to see them in the natural and the spiritual so I painted them. I believe it was a sign of what he was really doing in me. A personal “metamorphosis” if you will. I was in a season of transformation, spiritually and physically. I found an image of a butterfly on a gerbera daisy. The daisy was a beautiful shade of pink, with hints of purple. Very vibrant! I said to myself “that’s the one!” So I poured the colors I would need for the painting onto my pallet and began creating the picture in my mind. I took a pencil to the 12x12 canvas and lightly sketched out where I wanted the flower to be. The painting began to take shape as my brush moved up and down creating the strong, straight stem. It was a luscious apple green color with highlights of where the light would hit it. I moved onto the petals and moved my paintbrush back and forth, carefully placing the petals around the stem. Tracing them with my eyes, looking ahead to see where the next one would go. Placing the shadows underneath and the highlights on top, my brushed bounced around effortlessly. My flower, my vibrant, tall, strong flower had emerged. It had LIFE! At least in my eyes it did. You see at that moment when that daisy emerged and came to life on that canvas I heard the Lord say “You are that flower and you have bloomed after the rain.” My heart fluttered and my spirit lit up. He was right! After all I had been through I was coming out victorious by the power of Christ. I had bloomed again but this time it was different. This time I was stronger, vibrant and standing tall. Just like the flower I created! As I played worship music I began to paint the rest of my creation. I now saw it as a mirror image of the process I had gone through in the current year. Even though my story and struggle go back well over 15 years, the season I was in was fresh in my mind. I had gone through two deaths in the family within 24 hours, my anxiety had reached an all time high and I was physically fatigued and in pain. I was feeling hopeless and had lost sight of my purpose in life. Then the Lord so tenderly reminded of the word He had been giving me over and over again the last several months. He told me “ Do not worry or be anxious, trust me I am doing a new thing” referencing the Isaiah 43:19 scripture. “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland” NIV bible. When I would find myself drifting into anxiety he would remind me of this promise. I could hear him so clearly every time! It would comfort my heart and bring peace immediately to my spirit. I took my brush and painted the background, mixing colors and painting some sections with vibrant pigments and some softer in color. Once the background was in place the Holy Spirit guided me to make a section look like the glory of God and another like rain. So I took metallic gold paint and applied it to the left side of the painting to depict the glory of God, making long brilliant strokes. It faded into the next section where I depicted the rain, which represented my broken spirit and my struggle. I took a bottle of paint and applied it to the top edge of the painting and I just let it drip down the canvas. Allowing it to run where it desired. The color of the rain was rich hues of a blue-green, like the depth of the ocean on a stormy day. I proceed to finish the painting around the flower. This is where the softer hues of color came in. Depicting the tender, compassionate, gentle spirit of the our Lord, I saw a pattern appearing as I painted down the canvas and through the petals. It looked like a spout of water running through it. It was the living water of the Lord flowing from above and as it washed through the petals and the Spirit gave it life. I saw it, like a little river flowing from above. The brush of color was one continuous stream flowing down, in and through that flower. I knew at that moment this was a prophetic word from my Lord and he was releasing healing to my broken spirit and wounded heart. I could feel the healing and the joy emerge as I saw what was happening in front of my eyes. My hands were simply an extension of the Holy Spirit. I finished the painting off by topping the center of the daisy with specks of metallic gold paint. Once again to depict the glory of God. The Lord had taken me through the storm and deposited his glory on me like a crown. My flower was standing tall and strong, vibrant with the glory of God adorning its crown. It was indeed facing toward heaven overflowing with joy. I couldn’t help but to weep upon the completion of this piece because I saw me. I had bloomed after the pain. I had bloomed “after the rain”. To this day this painting evokes so many emotions and feelings in myself and other people when they see it. I am mostly told how beautiful and inspiring it is. I am here to tell you it is possible to bloom again after the rain!