EGYPT: How my biggest sale wasn't just about money

I've been doing some admin work on my website lately — going through my art catalog, piece by piece. When I got to EGYPT, I found myself digging into its history, including who had actually bought it through Saatchi Art. What I found gave me a real lift, and underscored just how much this piece mattered.

Let me back up.

In 2017, I painted EGYPT in my studio in Oakville — pyramids under a moonlit sky, acrylic on canvas, 16×20 inches. It came fast. I remember knowing, even as I painted it, that it was special. It sold within a few days of being uploaded to Saatchi.

But the painting had a strange beginning. I had personally always associated dark things with Egypt. And I painted this piece in the week after an overnight stay at a sleep clinic. It wasn't until my consult to review the results that I learned the owner of the clinic was Egyptian — his office was full of Egyptian artifacts. I believe I was affected by the atmosphere of that place. The spirit of Egypt stayed with me, and it came out in the work.

Being spiritually sensitive, this left me with real questions. What spirit had influenced me? I didn't have an answer at the time.

That's part of why this recent discovery meant so much to me. Going back through the catalog, I learned the painting had gone to Delaware, Ohio, into the collection of John A. Kohan — former New York Times foreign correspondent, sacred art collector, and curator of the Sacred Art Pilgrim Collection. John collects sacred and spiritual art from around the world. I could not have asked for a more fitting home for this piece.

And then there's the part I learned even earlier, in 2020. I had the privilege of being part of a prayer team covering an apostolic journey to Israel. During that time, Holy Spirit opened my eyes to Isaiah 19 — Egypt's prophetic destiny.

"In that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the heart of Egypt." Isaiah 19:19

That passage stopped me. Egypt — the historic house of slavery in Israel's memory — is named in Isaiah as part of a future blessing with Israel and Assyria. Not erased. Not discarded. Named.

This isn't only an old passage to me. The "Isaiah 19 Highway" language I encountered in intercessory and prophetic circles points to something many believe is unfolding now — in this generation, not a distant one.

EGYPT: How my biggest sale wasn't just about money

I've been doing some admin work on my website lately — going through my art catalog, piece by piece. When I got to EGYPT, I found myself digging into its history, including who had actually bought it through Saatchi Art. What I found gave me a real lift, and underscored just how much this piece mattered.

Let me back up.

In 2017, I painted EGYPT in my studio in Oakville — pyramids under a moonlit sky, acrylic on canvas, 16×20 inches. It came fast. I remember knowing, even as I painted it, that it was special. It sold within a few days of being uploaded to Saatchi.

But the painting had a strange beginning. I had personally always associated dark things with Egypt. And I painted this piece in the week after an overnight stay at a sleep clinic. It wasn't until my consult to review the results that I learned the owner of the clinic was Egyptian — his office was full of Egyptian artifacts. I believe I was affected by the atmosphere of that place. The spirit of Egypt stayed with me, and it came out in the work.

Being spiritually sensitive, this left me with real questions. What spirit had influenced me? I didn't have an answer at the time.

That's part of why this recent discovery meant so much to me. Going back through the catalog, I learned the painting had gone to Delaware, Ohio, into the collection of John A. Kohan — former New York Times foreign correspondent, sacred art collector, and curator of the Sacred Art Pilgrim Collection. John collects sacred and spiritual art from around the world. I could not have asked for a more fitting home for this piece.

And then there's the part I learned even earlier, in 2020. I had the privilege of being part of a prayer team covering an apostolic journey to Israel. During that time, Holy Spirit opened my eyes to Isaiah 19 — Egypt's prophetic destiny.

"In that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the heart of Egypt." Isaiah 19:19

That passage stopped me. Egypt — the historic house of slavery in Israel's memory — is named in Isaiah as part of a future blessing with Israel and Assyria. Not erased. Not discarded. Named.

This isn't only an old passage to me. The "Isaiah 19 Highway" language I encountered in intercessory and prophetic circles points to something many believe is unfolding now — in this generation, not a distant one.

That passage answered my question about the painting. But it gave me something bigger than that, too. It showed me the heart of God for that nation. His character. His redemptive nature, always. He is so much bigger than my mind can comprehend. His ways are not my ways. He is good and faithful — and I am so limited by my own perspective.

I didn't know any of this when I painted EGYPT. I knew pyramids. I knew a sky that felt like prophecy. I knew the painting was special, and I knew it carried something I couldn't fully name. But God knew what He was saying.

This is what keeps happening to me — I rediscover how prophetic a piece turns out to be, and it makes me take the work more seriously. The painting isn't just illustration or planned symbolism. It can be something the Spirit was brooding over before I understood it myself, sometimes before the world caught up to it too.

EGYPT taught me that.

Have you ever made something, prayed something, or painted something — and only understood what it meant, or watched it come true, years later?