The Sea of Nazarene
Inspired by Romans 8:29
“For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers…”
The Sea of Nazarene - a poem
God speaks into the burnished beams,
To shape me through and through,
From wave and tide and storms I grit,
My semblance subject to,
Conformed through to the Shaper’s Son,
My ultimate features wait,
Elements rage against the sand,
Oblivious to my fate,
But sea and light are the Shaper’s tools,
For the Shaper has foreseen,
A beauty formed from puny sand,
In the Sea of Nazarene.
Early on when I started learning digital rendering I had this idea of a “cross island”. The idea was that a sand bar or a small island is both constructed and then deconstructed over time by the natural elements.
For me, there is a parallel to how God constructs and deconstructs people over time, shaping them into their final form. In the poem, I refer to God as “the Shaper”, shaping us through His Spirit, His Word, natural law and circumstances into the image of His Son, Jesus Christ.
This early version of “Sea of Nazarene” was a real breakthrough for me. I liked it enough to buy a canvas wrap of it. Nine years later I revisited the idea and came up with the version posted above.
Here is a render of the “The Sea of Nazarene” with the water removed. I remember placing so many plants by hand and adjusting rocks so many times. For me, it’s easy to have tunnel vision and lose sight of the big picture.
This image has two terrains, I think in the final there are four plus a very large terrain spreading out into the ocean just under the surface. I was having trouble with the ocean color. I wanted the ocean to be transparent up close but deep blue way out. To fix that, I used a reflective terrain called a “sea plate”. By placing it under the water line the water color became much more deep blue.
If you look at the water line way out in the distance on the far left (on the final) you can see where the sea plate ends…