JESUS LOOKING TO THE FUTURE

 “Jesus Looking to the Future” is my very first original painting of Mary and Jesus.

The model for Mary is my niece, Elisabeth, and the model for baby Jesus is her daughter, Rachel Rose. I changed Rachel’s straight light-brown hair to the soft, curly dark hair of a Jewish baby boy.

My original idea was to paint Mary joyfully lifting Jesus high above her head, as if they were playing together. I could easily imagine her doing exactly that. But when we tried it, little Rachel’s legs hung limp and the pose didn’t feel right. So, I asked Elisabeth to simply hold Rachel in whatever way felt natural and comfortable as a mother.

What happened next was perfect. Elisabeth cradled Rachel gently in her arms and looked at her with such love and tenderness. In that moment, everything came together. Mary gazes at Jesus with deep affection, her attention fully on Him. Yet baby Jesus looks intently off into the distance with a quiet seriousness — even as a tiny infant — as if already aware of His destiny. That powerful contrast inspired the title: Jesus Looking to the Future.

I placed Jesus at the Golden Mean so He remains the undeniable focal point of the composition. I also bathed His face in warm, glowing light, because He is the Light of the world.

     Jesus Looking to the Future is painted on un-tempered masonite board which I wrapped with fine Belgian linen and coated with five layers of Renaissance marble gesso. The back of the board is supported with oak strips. The under-painting is painted in verdaccio (grey-green ten value palette). The final painting is coated with a special oil medium. After it dried for one year it received five coats of damar varnish. This painting should last hundreds of years if treated with care and kept out of direct sunlight.