ARTIST SPOTLIGHT

KATHRYN MCBRIDE

When people ask what I do, I like to say that I am a professional graphic designer and an amateur photographer. Photography provides me with an avenue to combine composition, beauty, travel and Photoshop. In short, it’s my art.

In his book Art for God’s Sake Philip Graham Ryken captures the heart of why art is central to my life. He said, “because we know God as both our Creator and Redeemer, we seek to display his beauty and grace in our life and work.” It’s probably for this reason that I love Colossians 3:11, which someone once paraphrased, “There is only Christ, he is everything.”

These images are from a recent trip to Scotland. Not only is it a beautiful country, but it’s also the homeland of my ancestors (the clan McLeod). I went there as part of a group of friends that toured the country with two guides who researched who our relatives were and where they lived. The experience was nothing short of amazing as the nine of us spent two weeks traveling throughout the Scottish Highlands with all our belongings stuffed into a nine-passenger van. All along the way, we laughed and cried as our guide regaled us with stories about our family clans’ fortunes and misfortunes.

On a trip to the Isle of Lewis, my sister and I saw the home where my great-grandparents spent most of their lives. We were particularly moved the day we went to our missionary grandfather’s birthplace. Though a proud Scot, he loved Jesus more and left his beloved land and language for more unfamiliar soil, spreading the gospel as a missionary in South America for fifty years. Like Abraham, “he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.” (Hebrews 11:10) Though my grandfather left home nearly a hundred years ago, not knowing where Christ would take him, my sister and I returned with the sure testimony that God led him all the way.

EILEAN DONAN CASTLE

“HEELAND COO”

ISLE OF SKY

www.kathrynmcbride.com