"O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?"
(1 Corinthians 15:55)

The painting is about the transition from now to then, from here to there, from life to death. It may also represent the transition from illness into health or from depression into well-being. In the case of such an illness, the painting might be celebrating a small victory before the enormous victory to come, because when we heal from something devastating, we can feel like we have stepped into a heaven on earth. In the most ultimate sense then, the painting is a depiction of the greatest transition we can face, from life through death to another kind of life. The painting most definitely affirms a positive, celebratory experience to follow this life as we know it. Therefore "Going Home" is about a realization of heaven, or perfect being, after a long journey, up many long steps to get there.

The painting is divided into two sections: the here and now versus the there and then. Here and now are represented by an almost cave-like place, almost amazing with its array of rock formations and its heavy sense of earth, dirt, stone and material solidity. There is presented a grave-like "sick bed" or "death bed", empty now with the cloths tossed aside. There can be seen a human figure, small but in a pose of great astonishment at the top of the long, steep staircase which leads to an open, welcoming, brightly-lit doorway. The figure seems taken aback by what he sees before him beyond the earth place from where he came, in the place that lies ahead of him.

The life after this life, or heaven, is represented by a loftier, airy space - all golden and a-flutter with an array of powerful and lovely glistening wings surrounding a centerpiece in stained-glass. The abstract shapes in the glass insert seem to build or grow into an upward motion in space, and from the dark brown hues seen in the earth place below into bright yellows and reds. These colors seem to symbolize a great celebration. The stained glass piece, in all its glory and beauty, topped by a perfect and complex geometric star, reflect the glory, beauty and perfection of the spirit, light and love of God. Indeed, the painting represents the celebration of all resurrected human life or spirit and the overcoming of all human sorrow.

The entire painting takes on a shape which is reminiscent of a church, temple or holy place, like a great, weighty and formidable cross, representing the idea that all our lives and existence are shaped by God's choosing, by God's will in creating us. All that we know is given of God, and God's universe is all that we experience.

Finally, there can be seen a couple of single feathers that seem to have fallen from the wings in the lofty heights of the painting and drifted into the earth place. These are no mistake, because they represent those moments of grace and kindness that fall gently into our lives, just where and when we need them most. They teach and ensure us of an understanding of God's reality and truth, so that we can trust in the promise that we are in truth "Going Home".

Helen P. Shipman