Original Oil Paintings by João Magalhães

New Hackensack Dutch Reformed Church was a country church in the early 1800s, originally a modest wooden edifice. Over time as wealth amassed in the area, the congregation opted to build a less humble masonry structure to reflect the success of the families. In the words of Stephen Link, his parents joined the church in the early 1950s. They served as Sunday School teachers and progressively assumed more responsibility. As Stephen shared, there are over the decades fond memories of three siblings being married in the sanctuary, a surprise 40th wedding anniversary party for his parents, and countless Christmas and Easter, and weekly services. 

After studying the archival photos, architectural drawings, and considering Stephen’s memories, I decided to create a scene in which the New Hackensack Dutch Reformed Church in Dutchess County, NY would be seen on a cold winter night. While the landscape was shrouded in snowy garments of blue and purple hues, the old country church offered a place of light and warmth, as well as sustenance and comfort for the soul. I imagined perhaps, as suggested by Stephen’s childhood memories of that congregation, a Christmas Eve Midnight service, “when at the sound of Oh Holy Night, the gas chandeliers were extinguished, and light was spread candle to candle until the sanctuary glowed with soft golden light.”  

The winter landscape is cold and dark, but stars are dancing in the sky. On earth, the golden light coming through the stained-glass windows is a reminder that the congregation is gathered together in singing and adoration, inviting the world to rejoice in God’s abounding love and grace. 

Oil on linen canvas 11x14 

Fears never told, dreams kept alive, fishermen providing the daily bread for their families. Oil on canvas 12 X 12 with a black and gold plein air frame. 

Bartram's Garden in Philadelphia was saved from the hands of developers by Andrew McCalla Eastwick, who bought the 46-acre property from John Bartram's granddaughter Ann Bartram Carr in 1850. 

Andrew Eastwick, one of the founders of the American historic preservation movement, kept the gardens and the Bartram's homestead intact, building his mansion off to the side. 

After Andrew Eastwick's passing in 1879, the Eastwick family deeded the property to the city of Philadelphia for use as a public park. Sadly, Bartram's Hall (Mr. Eastwick's mansion) caught fire and burned to the ground in 1885. However, the garden and its original buildings remain as a vibrant pastoral sanctuary in the heart of the city. 

Oil on canvas 11x14 commissioned by the great great grandson of Andrew Eastwick, Dr. Walter Johnsen.