Original Painting from the Stillwater Collection, 'After the Rain'

Rain does not ask for permission before it falls. It is needed by everything — asked for by nothing. I stumbled across this reality one morning. The rain was just lightly falling atop the lake. Water on water. I was mesmerized by how the rain changed the lake's regular flow. It was still. Strikingly still. And yet the lake was trembling with every raindrop, as though each bead of water were slowly reviving it. It changed everything. The world I knew softened into something kaleidoscopic — blues and browns swirling into each other. And the more I sat and stared, the more I realized how energizing it was. 

Rain activates reflection — everywhere. Each drop creates a tiny spark of light. It takes something mundane and gives it a gentle radiance, as light interacts with it. Dry pavement becomes its own tiny wonder. Stones, sticks, leaves echo magnificence. I even love how the rain feels — soaking through my clothes. I know some people hate it. I get this, really. But I can't help but see it as a thousand tiny diamonds, falling — for me. Because that's the whole point about gifts. They're offered freely, and the only real choice we have is whether to accept them or not. Rain doesn't ask for our permission. Neither does mercy. 

This struck me, and I can no longer ignore the similarities.

Mercy is necessary — freshening, lifegiving, completely and totally undeserved. We cannot earn the rain, just as we cannot earn mercy. It merely falls. And when it does, it changes how we see the whole world. It acts like a shockwave — replacing ordinary reality with sparks of light. Mercy on mercy.

The interesting thing is that rain is often associated with times of great sadness. Except that is never its fault. Rain may fall during a great thunderstorm, but it is not the cause of it. In the same way, mercy often falls in times of conflict. At least that's when I see it most — in so many of those little moments. Like when I come home from a long day, tired and cranky, and my husband simply hugs me. He doesn't scold, doesn't match my irritability. He just gives me mercy. It's so beautifully simple, like one individual raindrop.

After the Rain captures this feeling for me — this urge to break out in an uncontrollable smile and let the rain fall on me, fall like real mercy.

Auction details

Starting bid: $9450 USD. Bid in the auction panel above. Each bid must be at least the "Next Minimum Bid" shown.

Auction closes: Friday October 16 at 7:00 PM Pacific Time (PT).

Medium: Acrylic on canvas, unframed. Signed by the artist, with a certificate of authenticity.

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