46 B.
I set out to sketch this church on an October afternoon. On my previous visits to Jackson, N.J. I had seen St. Mary's and was drawn to the unusual shapes of this Russian Orthodox house of worship. Now, after initially having some difficulty re-locating the site, I began to sketch and found myself intrigued by the contours of the walls and the towers, contrasting so sharply with the straight roof lines and corner lines of the structure. I elected to paint the picture in a subdued, almost black and white, fashion attempting to emphasize the mystery of the devout Byzantine worship of the Russian Orthodox liturgy. I wanted the painting to feel shrouded and veiled. All is not readily understood. There is a gray ambiguity to much of life. Perhaps we will "understand it bye and bye" but for now we live the mystery.