Eastertide Letter 2026

“The Parakeet and the Mermaid (La Perruche et la Sirène)” (1952)

By Shannon Sigler, executive director of Brehm Center

Henri Matisse is my favorite artist, and his late work is my favorite of all. It is fascinating that as his health declined in his late sixties, eventually confining him to a wheelchair, he did not cease to create.

Unable to paint or draw as he once did, cut paper became his new medium of expression - “carving into color” as he described the process. He had a number of assistants that would help him place these paper shapes all over his walls in his Nice apartment, transforming his space into gardens, or more often aquatic scenes mimicking his travels to French Polynesia years before. 

I’ve had the opportunity to see many of these works in person, reconstructed in museum settings. They are immersive and filled with joy and hope, borne out of ingenuity and illness all at once. 

This Easter season has begun for me with some dissonance: a friend is recovering from cancer surgery, the world is at war, my son had the flu, another friend is getting a divorce, refugees are still fighting for their lives, and so many other struggles large and small. And yet, Christ has finished the work. He has harrowed hell, and defeated death. He is enthroned, and will return to finish the restoration of all creation. 

In this season of Eastertide, you may, like me, be struggling to that hold hope in such tensions.

While we wait, what are ways we can “carve into color” in our own ways? How can we partner with the work of the Spirit even now to create new landscapes in our families and communities? Even though our works may seem small, God uses us as his hands and feet in this liminal time. 

Christ has died.

Christ is risen.

Christ will come again!

We are grateful for you and pray you have a hope-filled Eastertide, even amid the tensions.