I like my work to have a lot of light and shadow and contrast—play between light and dark values. The idea of the sun-drenched copper roof contrasted by morning shadows caught me, and I've always wanted to do a painting of a church. My grandfather does a lot of work in Cortland for St. Mary's Roman Catholic church, so seeing a poem about a church also made me think of him.

After locating St. Paul's, I took a few hours to walk around the church, taking pictures. I wanted to capture the copper roof, and make the image as appealing, aesthetically, as I found the church to be.

The view I finally created the poster from has some spiritual symbolism. I like the way the church towers above the shadows of the natural environment, and how bright it is at the top, against the blue sky.