Stonehearth Hutch

One of the things I enjoy about the great Renaissance painters is the fact that they had a language of symbols to work with – a broad vocabulary of visual cues their audience was sure to understand. That’s one reason I am drawn to Christmas as a subject for my art – symbols of the Christmas season speak very clearly to us all.

I’ve incorporated some of them – wreath and tree – in Stonehearth Hutch, fourth in my Christmas Cottage Series, to signal that the warm glow of this sunset heralds Christmas Eve. I’ve also used more personal symbols to express the spirit of the season. The lone, rough-hewn cottage represents the rock of faith. Outside is the only solitude of the woods – with no carriage track or footprint to hint at human comfort. But inside is a golden light, suggesting the hope of Christmas.

Fires burn in each hearth, promising bounteous food; their smokes rises Heavenward. The odd little path, winding and slippery, leads to the cottage door. My prayer is that Stonehearth Hutch will communicate to many – in languages as universal as Christmas wreaths, and yet as private and as deep as faith.