The “Hidden Arithmetic” series has a square format and an abstract focus on scenes in the Michigan woods. I’m reminded of how God numbers the stars and the hairs on our heads. Psalm 139:16-17 says: “All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand.” My father recently died at the age of 88 years, 6 months and three days. The mysteries of God’s varying plans for his children and the numbers of ways that he teaches us and blesses enter in as I ponder the ever-changing compositions and arrangements in the woods. Psalm 90:12 says: “Teach us to number our days and recognize how few they are: help us to spend them as we should.” It’s arithmetic that’s hidden from us, but we can trust his calculation.
These pieces were made using watercolor and charcoal.