Nicholas Pumper Art

Commissioned as a “Minnesota” version of the Millet’s famous “L’Angelus”, I used only Minnesota landscape references I personally photographed. In addition, the two figures are from a modeling photoshoot that I set up took as well. Combined with the rather intense technical work and how large it is, this ended up being a very big commission.

Our subject is two farmers, who have halted their work, setting down their scythe, midday to pray the Angelus. Surrounding them, we see a grain field and a town crowned with a chapel in background, with a dramatic sky dwarfing all else. The whole scene has a very wide field of view, giving the field and the sky, massive scale. Here, the sky stands in as demonstration of God’s glory forever reigning over us. The range from thunderstorm to clear sky seems like chaos without rhyme or reason, but only because we are far smaller. And so it is that the only building to touch the clouds is that where we see Him most clearly: the church. 

I’ve lived a decently exciting life, but the traveling across the world, high adrenaline adventures, aren’t what fuel my being through every brutal trial. It is instead the simple moments where time stood still. It is there I see the beauty God made in the world. It is there I look at my loved one, and every little detail of them takes my whole heart.

Oh to live slowly. What endless beauty lies there. It is there I fall in love all over again.