hope in darkness

"Light In The Darkness", 2023 Wishmoon Studio holiday card design. Quote by me: "The night sky is a reminder of hope: there is light in the darkness."

Whew! I wasn't sure I'd finish this in time to make it my holiday card this year. I've had the idea for it for a while, but not the spare moments to start it until last weekend. (Several weeks later than planned.) It's been stressing me out a bit, if only because it mattered to me so much. So I've been working away to make up for lost time.

It took more than a dozen layers to get the sky the way I wanted. It's a simple palette, but those are sometimes the hardest pieces to get right. And I'm still thinking about the lettering so I may change that today. But for all intents and purposes, I'm ready to call it finished. I've included process pics to see how it evolved.

I frequently write here and elsewhere about hope -- what it means, what it is and isn't, why we need to hang on to it, where to look for it. In part because of my need for it during my own struggles, but also because I see and hear the need almost daily, from many directions, to believe in reasons to hope. Whether that's because we all have struggles in life so the need for hope never diminishes, or because we're collectively living in an especially challenging time, I don't know.

What I do know is that we often need reminders that we aren't alone, that we can do the hard things, that we can make things better, that the difficulties won't last forever. Those reminders are all around us if we look, but sometimes, we need a little help to see.