Peony & Cricket: A Meditation

I have recently enjoyed a focus on sumi-e peony painting. I’m not, by any means finished. There’s lots more to learn, but this morning I was stirred to pause and think about my most recent piece that I mounted and framed yesterday— “Peony & Cricket”. These words from John Newton’s letter to his 13 year-old daughter, Betsy, got me started (many thanks to my friend, Mark Bowers for the quotation):

“I wish for you my dear child, to think much of the Lord's governing providence. It extends to the minutest concerns. He rules and manages all things; but in so secret a way, that most people think that He does nothing. When, in reality—He does ALL!”

August 10, 1782

Newton’s missive reminded me about the hidden, even secret, mechanisms that reveal the Designer’s mind. The sumi-e presentation of free-style (xieyi) peony— free, spontaneous, in the moment, almost “shouting with color and abundance”— is contrasted by the intricate style (gongbi) cricket—almost hidden, intentional and diminutive, yet amazing…