Advent Art - Southview Church

CHRISTMAS 2025

Advent Art Project

The Southview Art Collective presents the Advent Project, a gathering of works created in response to the five candles of the season—Hope, Peace, Joy, Love, and the Christ Candle. Each piece emerges from dwelling with these themes, tracing how God’s light moves through our world in subtle hues and steady rhythms. The artists respond not only to the story of Christ’s coming, but to the landscape of longing, waiting, and renewal that Advent shapes in us. Together, this collection invites our community to pause, to look closely, and to enter the wonder of Advent with open hands and expectant hearts.

HOPE

ARTIST: Heather Nelson
TITLE: Hope of a Promise
MEDIUM: Oil on Canvas

The Magnificat
Luke 1:46-55 (The Message)

And Mary said,
I’m bursting with God-news;
I’m dancing the song of my Savior God.
God took one good look at me, and look what happened –
I’m the most fortunate woman on earth!
What God has done for me will never be forgotten,
the God whose very name is holy, set apart from all others.
His mercy flows in wave after wave on those who are in awe before him.
He bared his arm and showed his strength, scattered the bluffing braggarts.
He knocked tyrants off their high horses, pulled victims out of the mud.
The starving poor sat down to a banquet; the callous rich were left out in the cold.
He embraced his chosen child, Israel;
he remembered and piled on the mercies, piled them high.
It’s exactly what he promised,
beginning with Abraham and right up to now.

ARTIST: Ruth Daly
TITLE: The Way Through
MEDIUM: Photography

I caught sight of the deer along a trail in the woods where no one else was around.

I came upon them by chance; they looked up briefly, holding my gaze.

Then they continued on, slowly stepping gracefully between trees soon out of sight;

Finding their way through.

“The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights.” Habakkuk 3:19

ARTIST: Don Kowalenko
TITLE: The Hope & Joy of a Small Tree
MEDIUM: Watercolour

According to the traditional folktale The Tale of Three Trees, the first tree hoped, when it was just a sapling, to grow well and eventually be made into a treasure chest. To its great disappointment, upon maturity it was merely crafted into a rough trough for feeding livestock.

However, it was overjoyed to eventually realize that it turned out to be none other than the very manger of Bethlehem, in which would lay the very greatest of all treasures.

Advent is, in addition to a season of Peace and Love, a season of such Hope.

And a season of such Joy in the unexpected way our hope is realized.

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy & peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. “

Romans 15:13

PEACE

ARTIST: Jill Weston
TITLE: Mount Assiniboine
MEDIUM: Watercolour

Like the fog and mist that settle over the mountain lakes, Christ’s peace drifts in quietly, without force or fanfare, softening the sharp edges of the world.

Just as the mist wraps the water in stillness, His peace surrounds the heart with a calm that doesn’t depend on what’s happening around you.

In the mountains, the fog doesn’t remove the landscape – it simply covers it with a quiet assurance.

In the same way, the peace of Christ doesn’t erase life’s problems, but it rests over them with a gentle presence that reminds you you’re held, protected, and not alone.

And when the sun rises and the mist lifts, the lake reflects a deeper clarity – just as Christ’s peace helps you see life with renewed hope and trust.

ARTIST: Mark Michaud
TITLE: Sunrise Over Bow Lake
MEDIUM: Photography

“Peace at Dawn” – Original Verse

The night released its trembling fears,
As dawn began to climb;
The golden hush of early light
Breathed peace beyond all time.
No trumpet called, no thunder spoke,
Just silence, pure and deep;
And in that quiet, hearts awoke –
To grace the soul could keep.

ARTIST: Mark Michaud
TITLE: Sunset Over the Foothills
MEDIUM: Photography

“In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety.”

Psalm 4:8

JOY

ARTIST: George Payson
TITLE: Together
MEDIUM: Photography

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him,

so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Romans 15:13

ARTIST: Liliane Yimta
TITLE: Gaudete – Rejoice
MEDIUM: Mixed Media

Spiritual joy / Invitation to open to the Celebration of Life

J is for Jesus-Christ

Jesus First
Jesus is the Good Shepherd (John 10:11)

Baby Jesus

Jesus is The reason for the season (Isaiah 7:14)
Baby Jesus is the reason for Christmas (Luke 2:6-7 / John 1:14)

The Red and White stripes

The red stripes represent the Blood of Jesus shed for our salvation
The white stripes represent Jesus our Saviour, Sinless and Pure

The STAR

The star and the light
The star of Bethlehem – The birth of our Saviour (Matthew 2:2)
The star that told of Jesus’s Birth (Matthew 2:9-10)
The shining hope of mankind

The Candle

Reminds us of Jesus as the Light of the world (John 8:12) … bringing Hope and Guidance to all

The pink candle is the 3rd candle of Advent and symbolizes JOY

The Number 3

This 3rd candle is also called the “Shepherd’s Candle”
The 3rd Sunday of Advent is also known as “GAUDETE Sunday”/ “Sunday of Joy”

“GAUDETE” means REJOICE

The people Rejoicing / The Shepherds Rejoicing

The message of Joy (Luke 2:7-15 / Matthew 2:10)
God chose the shepherds to be the first to receive the Good news (Luke 2:8-11)
The Joy we have in Jesus Christ (John 15:11 / Nehemiah 8:10)
Rejoice in the Lord always (Phillipians 4:4-5)
Christ came for ALL people / The whole world rejoice

The Bell

The bells ring out to guide the lost sheep back to the fold
Meaning that ALL are precious in the eyes of the Lord
It also symbolizes the call for ALL to worship the Lord
For the people of God, ringing bells also meant good news that we can ALL be accepted by God and we can ALL be made alive in Him because of what our

Great High Priest, Jesus-Christ did on our behalf (Exodus 28:31-35)

The Holly cherries

Symbolizes the Blood that Christ shed for us (Matthew 26:28)

J – Jesus first

O – Others next

Y – Yourself last

Spiritual joy / Invitation to open to the Celebration of Life

ARTIST: Ruth Daly
TITLE: Real
MEDIUM: Photography

One December, people decorated the trees in a nearby park with Christmas ornaments. It was pretty and festive, even more when a small herd of white tailed deer slowly wandered among the trees. People stopped what they were doing to watch as the deer carefully made their way through. And the deer, they completely ignored the sparkle and glitter of the ornaments, going straight for what they knew to be real. It made me think about where I put my focus at Christmastime – on that which is real, or am I distracted by the ‘glitter’?

ARTIST: Sheila Rowe
TITLE: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience
MEDIUM: Acrylic on canvas

These four panels represent the first tour fruits of the Holy Spirit listed in Galations 5:22-23.

The fact that these are abstract paintings is perhaps appropriate to the idea that each individual may experience a given “fruit” in a unique way. In general “these qualities reflect God’s character and the behavior of those living according to God’s Spirit” However, a quality like “joy” is variously described as:

“a state of being undisturbed by negative things in life”…

“a deep, enduring sense of gladness and contentment that comes from trusting God.”

“the delight that a believer has in God, as reconciled in Christ…

An abstract depiction of “Joy” facilitates contemplation and speaks uniquely to each viewer.

We become more Christlike as we yield our wills to the Spirit who cultivates and grows each of these fruits.

ARTIST: Sheila Rowe
TITLE: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience
MEDIUM: Acrylic on canvas

These four panels represent the first tour fruits of the Holy Spirit listed in Galations 5:22-23.

“a state of being undisturbed by negative things in life”…

“a deep, enduring sense of gladness and contentment that comes from trusting God.”

“the delight that a believer has in God, as reconciled in Christ…

An abstract depiction of “Joy” facilitates contemplation and speaks uniquely to each viewer.

We become more Christlike as we yield our wills to the Spirit who cultivates and grows each of these fruits.

LOVE

ARTIST: Jill Weston
TITLE: Water Jug and Fruit
MEDIUM: Watercolour

Love, the first fruit of the Spirit, takes shape slowly, like fruit ripening over time – and Advent is the season that teaches us to wait and tend it.

Just as fruit needs light, warmth, and patient care to reach fullness, love grows through small, steady acts: quiet kindness, attention, and making space for others.

Advent reminds us that God’s love arrives in this same way – steady, gently, and quietly – softening our hearts as it unfolds.

In learning to cultivate and nurture love, we discover it ripening within us, ready to be shared with the world.

CHRIST CANDLE

ARTIST: Lindsay Nichols
TITLE: Coming Light
MEDIUM: Photography

In Advent, the Christ candle is the final flame – steady, white, and whole – lit when all waiting gathers into a moment of arrival.

“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5)

This truth is reflected in the scene’s layered shadows, pierced by a soft, golden center.

The glow rising through the dark tones echoes how Christ’s light threads through the human experience – subtle, persistent, transforming – meeting us not always in clarity but in nearness.

Like dawn brushing the edges of night, the pale blue and warm amber hues mirror Isaiah’s words: “Arise, shine, for your light has come” (Isaiah 60:1)

It is both a statement and a call – light already present, inviting response – revealing that even within obscurity, illumination is already breaking through.

ADVENT CANDLES

ARTIST: Lindsay Nichols
TITLE: Advent Light
MEDIUM: Photography

Evergreen stands in winter’s cold, hope that endures when all else fades.

A candle flickers in the quiet night, peace that calms the restless heart.

Within the humble pinecone rests joy, seeds of life, abundance yet to bloom.

A streetlight pierces darkness with steadfast love, illumining the way, warming every shadow.

Hope endures. Peace rests.

Joy awakens. Love shines –

the Advent night leading

toward the coming light of Christ.