Desert Tulip

Watercolor on illustration board, 18” x 24”

This picture was born of frustration. I had repeatedly tried and failed to come up with a suitable office decoration, mainly because my usual work isn’t really office-wall appropriate. I tend to be more of a storyteller than a painter of pretty pictures. So the challenge was to come up with something that fit the space where it was supposed to hang, but still had something to it that could hold my interest.

I finally gave up and just painted a big flower. But to give it a little extra significance I snuck in some subtle symbolism, so subtle in fact, that pretty much nobody will catch it unless I explain.

The flower here represents Reformed theology. It’s a tulip because the first letters of the five points of Calvinism (Total depravity, Unconditional election, Limited atonement, Irresistible grace, Perseverance of the saints) form the acrostic TULIP. None of these terms are really the best labels for the doctrines they describe but they make for a helpful mnemonic device, which in turn makes for an easily painted symbol. There's also a lot more to Calvinism than the 5 points but these are the distinctives that people usually choke on.

The flower is growing out of parched ground to represent the current resurgence of Reformed thinking even amidst a landscape filled with empty and false teaching or, if you prefer, the growth of biblical Christianity in a fallen and evil world. Not the most original concept, I know, but it reflects my hope that our own dark times will ultimately witness a modern reformation.