On the Cover: Heaven Needs Realizing
Art by Marshall Blevins, "Church Goin' Mule"
Alone in the woods in Ocean Springs, artist Marshall Blevins, known by most as the “Church Goin’ Mule,” felt the world around her grow more vivid. As the distractions of daily human interactions and obligations grew smaller, quieter—the tiny events of nature were magnified. Suddenly, the world became “a more intense and vivid and magical place,” the trees “protective parents,” and the turtles “good omens.” During her time at the Twelve Oaks Artist Residency, she saw turtles everywhere—baby turtles, turtles stacked upon one another, turtles laying eggs, eating mushrooms. Describing the morning after completing this ode to her chosen symbol of good luck, she wrote on her Instagram: “After a worried and sleepless night, I pulled the kayak into the bayou, hopeful it wouldn’t rain as the overcast sky warned it surely would. A three-toed box turtle met me on the trailhead and I smiled. It was serenely quiet. It was rainless. It was good, like he promised.” In this visual arts issue, adoration for our natural world—and sometimes devastating appeals to save it—abound.