James Ellison
"Shelter"
pastel
print, edition limited to 395

image size: 12 in x 9 in

This ocean scape is of La Jolla Cove from the seaward side of a small cave at low tide. The original is an 18" x 24" pastel completed in 1991.

A storm is coming. The tide is rising. You stand in the shelter of the cave as a green wave crashes upon the rocks. The closer rocks which lie in the shadow of this ledge are wet from the mist and reflect the cold blue light from the foreboding blue sky. The afternoon sun still shines from above on the large rock to the left and the rocks in the middle of the surf. The last of the pelicans has taken off from the yellowish rock on the left and circles around to go off to safer places. Soon you will have to retreat into the cave and out to safety on the other side. The overhang of the cave is in the upper left corner of the page which is the divine power. Yet I have made it black and mysterious. Why? Because it is in the storms of life that God, though present, is often hidden. Thus we cry out, where are you! Yet God is present and mysteriously shelters us like the cave. But unlike this cave from which you would eventually have to escape to the other side, God keeps you safe. The confident yellow of the large rock on the left is like the foundation of our faith, Jesus Christ. Though at times, like pelicans, we may flee for what seems to be safer places, Christ patiently waits for us to return as the pelicans do after the storm. Storms will come into our lives, waves will threaten to sweep over us but there is no need to fear. God will see us through them into the future.

The Bible text which I have selected for this picture is Isaiah 25:4.