I imagine that to distribute hand-painted 40-inch tall baby portraits on canvas which include bold and symbolic imagery flanking the child’s face would make for fascinating birth announcements… maybe more appropriately, hyperbolic birth declarations… birth sirens.
For effect, imagine if this scale portrait included the boy’s body. Baby James would be pushing 9 feet tall. Yes, yes, we want our kids to know they’re important and all but…
JAMES arrived. Period.
Even so, if the mere dimensions of his rendered image could somehow accurately represent James’ parents’ sense of value for him, no building could contain a James painting, and frankly, we wouldn’t want one to. There is something profound which bonds us to our children... magnifying their worth to us… altering the way we see the universe. So, why not go big (I figured 40” was a good compromise--something between megalomania and a poor self-image)?
But James is more than an experiment in pushing the limits of scale to communicate worth. I want to lead the viewer into the future with James… the place he appears to be gazing. He’s desperate for it, you know. The heights. Flights.
Destined for it.
I don’t mean to rush things, and probably, James doesn’t want to either. The nest is fitting for now… proper incubation for possibility. It is shelter from wind, rain, and premature risk. Testing-ground for future Grace.
Someday, riding the updrafts… James.
“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:10
