James Ellison
"Coming Home"
pastel
print, edition limited to 395

image size: 9 in x 12 in

This ocean scape is from La Jolla Cove looking at the northern cliffs. The original is an 18" x 24" pastel completed in 1991.

The waves move relentlessly forward drawing your eye with them as they crash against the rock wall or enter into the portals of the caves. The lines of the ridge lead slightly to the left and back until you see the hopeful sign of blue water as it slips between the cliffs that are near and those that are far away. There is a safe harbor on the other side of the cliff before you. But how to get to it? You could go back to the left to a lower part of the shore, get into a boat and carefully steer as you let the waves carry you forward to the shore and the excitement of the golden hills that lie beyond. Or you could climb to the right until you come to the level ground at the top of the cliffs and walk to the harbor and the beauty that awaits you there. Like the waves, time moves relentlessly forward. Sometimes we meet barriers in our lives that seem like insurmountable walls. We could give up and sit down letting life go on without us. Or we can look for an opening, a way around. True, like the black portals of the caves, there may be times when what we have chosen leads us no where. But if we keep on trying, God will lead us home. God is preparing our spiritual home where we belong, where we are valued for who we are and where we can be our best.

The Bible text which I have selected for this picture is Psalm 84:13.