In my studio with Christ Pantocrator hanging behind me.

What personal achievement do you most treasure?

I came across the quote below back in March, right in the midst of disappointment. The theatrical production I had been designing and painting a set for was cancelled the week before show week. I was pretty down in spirits and turned to the internet to find some art that would sooth my feelings and bumped into the works of James Whistler. You are maybe familiar with his most famous painting referred to as “Whistler’s Mother.”

The deep tones of his Nocturne paintings, the melancholy expressions of his human subjects connected with the sadness I was experiencing. But it was this quote that offered me the most consolation.

Hang on the walls of your mind the memory of your successes. Take counsel of your strength, not your weakness. Think of the good jobs you have done. Think of the times when you rose above your average level of performance and carried out an idea or a dream or a desire for which you had deeply longed. Hang these pictures on the walls of your mind and look at them as you travel the roadway of life. — James Whistler

The photo I’ve chosen today is of me in my studio where my biggest success hangs. The Pantocrator banner I completed in 2011 was the most challenging task I have ever set my mind to completing. A theater set feels relatively easy to plan and execute over the complex mosaic work I faced in the Pantocrator project.

The coolest part of applying Whistler’s advice here is I get to hang Christ on the wall of my mind. It was He who guided and sustained me through the work of completing that banner and it is He who will sustain me through this unknown present and future as well.

Father, may they clearly know Your will and achieve the height and depth of spiritual wisdom and understanding. May their lives be a credit to You, Lord; and what’s more, may they continue to delight You by doing every good work and growing in the true knowledge that comes from being close to You. Strengthen them with Your infinite power, according to Your glorious might, so that they will have everything they need to hold on and endure hardship patiently and joyfully. — Colossians 1:9-11