I went to an exhibit of Van Gogh’s olive grove paintings and I recognized my kindred spirit. Van Gogh stated that he made these paintings of olive trees to prepare for a masterpiece of Christ in the garden of Gethsemane. He never needed to make that masterpiece, because his olive grove paintings—they already said it all. I saw these paintings and I saw the direction I wanted to take with my own drawing, but even more than that, I saw the kind of loving relationship I want to have with this good earth: a love forged through art.

The scene in Gethsemane, Christ among the olive trees, in an indicative of moment of how Christ loves the Earth. He commits himself to save the Earth because he loves the Earth: every leaf, every ray of light, every grain of sand. This is the gift bestowed on all who are the beloved of God — when we experience His love, we cannot help but to love as He loves: a love that extends throughout all the earth, a love for every leaf, every ray of light, every grain of sand.