The hauntingly beautiful tune that accompanies Phillips Brooks "O Little Town of Bethlehem" slowly unfolds the story of the nativity from different perspectives. First, we are looking from a distance at the little town of Bethlehem, with its dark streets and dreamless sleepers, far beneath the silent stars. Suddenly, there is a timeless, hope-fulfilling, everlasting light shining out from within it. Then we are taken right into the stable, where a newborn baby is lovingly held in his mother's arms, while the angels above give praise to God and proclaim the good news of Christ's birth. From there we are brought into the inner heart of every human, and indeed, even into the heart of a benevolent God who lovingly creates a way to redeem his creation by giving a most wondrous gift.
Phillips Brooks wrote this carol after a visit to the Holy Land in 1865, in which he rode on horseback between Jerusalem and Bethlehem on Christmas Eve. He described passing by fields filled with shepherds watching over their sheep at night, just as they had on the night Christ's was born. When he returned, he was inspired to write this carol for his Sunday school children.
Throughout this month of December, I am going to post the five Christmas Carol artworks that I've created since 2015. I've tried to create a new one each Christmas season, but haven't always been able to with the many demands of life crowding out my creative time. I like to choose my favorite carols that I remember singing out of the church hymnbook on December Sundays. In fact, I have a small collection of old hymnbooks that I peruse through while deciding which hymn to choose and while I'm creating the art.
The entire process of painting O' Little Town of Bethlehem was akin to riding recklessly down a rocky mountain trail on a bicycle, feeling like I was about to fly off any moment. Anyone that is familiar with watercolor knows that its characteristic looseness and unforgivable nature lends itself to many a failure. Although I felt that at any time I could be ruining it, for some reason, every risky decision I made to saturate the paper with wash after wash worked itself out successfully. So, I'm attributing the unique beauty of this piece to what may really be what us artists like to term a "happy accident!"
"But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall come forth onto me that is to be ruler in Israel: whose goings forth have been from old, from everlasting."
Micah 5:2
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