Maria Lang

This past weekend, I went on an art retreat. I went two years ago when they last had it, and it was a turning point for me. I felt so honored in my creativity, felt it and me as a creative person being given a … Continue readingArizona in Grandma’s Eyes

This painting is inspired by Seamus Heaney’s poem “Digging” and one of Van Gogh’s sketches of a potato digger. I love both for the same reason. They emphasize beauty in the grit of life. Malcolm Guite makes the comment that true poetry either starts in … Continue readingI’ll Dig with This Brush

This Lent and Easter season I’ve been particularly struck by how Jesus’ friends abandoning him at the moment of his most profound agony is such a concrete symbol of how personal our sin is. And how personal Jesus’ forgiveness is.  I’m struck by how, at … Continue readingMy Own Peace I Give You

As a faithful Jew, Jesus would have prayed the psalms every day. He would have prayed all the psalms, and he surely would have prayed them more deeply than any other person who’s ever lived. I love the psalms as an intimate glimpse into his … Continue readingMy Heart is Stirred

Upon the hearth the fire is red,Beneath the roof there is a bed;But not yet weary are our feet,Still round the corner we may meetA sudden tree or standing stoneThat none have seen but we alone.  Tree and flower and leaf and grass,  Let them pass! Let … Continue readingThe World Ahead

Lately I’ve been painting to the theme of beauty in the dark. The reason is that I’ve been captivated by how God moves in darkness. Not the sort of darkness we usually feel the minute the word is spoken—there’s an evil and sinister darkness we … Continue readingTogether in a Starry Night

This Triduum was, for me, focused on Jesus’ relationships with the people close to him.  In the Passion narrative on Palm Sunday, I was pierced by how his friends ran away or fell asleep—were generally not present—at the moment of his deepest agony.  At the moment he … Continue readingTo Honor Them

I’m very moved in the Lord of the Rings by the way Galadriel gives gifts to the different members of the fellowship.  When they leave Lothlorien they are embarking on the same path.  But their inner journeys and needs will be absolutely unique, and she knows it.  Some … Continue readingFor You I Have Prepared This

“Take me with you across this land. These are my dreams, so simple and few.” Loreena McKennitt BUY PRINT