Rensselaer Methodist Church - during the COVID summer of 2020 I answered an ad looking for a muralist. I worked on it for over 2 years, adding to it now and again when I had time and inspiration. At the end of summer 2022 I finally finished it and spent 3 days installing it onto the ceiling. I reached out to a friend of mine who is a Presbyterian Pastor for guidance on what to paint for this mural. The artwork was inspired by the story of The Tree of Jesse- a story of the ancestors of Jesus Christ, rising from Jesse of Bethlehem. It is the original use of the family tree as representation for genealogy. In this story it speaks of creatures and humans, opposite to each other living together in peace. In the summer of 2020, when this was conceived, it seemed to be a fitting story for the times. I used the animals in the story and touched on the backgrounds of the people living around the church. I used gold paint and gold leaf to add golden reflection and to acknowledge guilded church paintings of the past