When Hurricane Matthew was a Category 4 storm threatening to bare down on the east coast of Florida, Alyse Merritt of Land O’ Lakes, FL did what she often does… she prayed and began drawing.
Merritt then photographed her sketch, which she entitled, “The Hand of God” and posted it on Facebook.
Soon, it went viral.
Her post was shared nearly 7,000 times from her Facebook.
One of those shares was to a radio station’s website, which received 50,000 more shares.
Now the artwork has been seen by millions of people on Facebook.
"This drawing only took me about approximately 10 minutes. I did not spend a great deal of time on it," Merritt said. "It was something I drew in the heat of prayer and in the passion of prayer, and I just expressed myself through art. All my life I've been expressing myself through art."
Merritt says she was criticized by some individuals and an atheist website, because her drawing depicted God sparing Florida, which the hurricane caused major damage and deaths in other places, including North Carolina and Haiti.
"It's a figurative image, but it's something I believe God showed me," she said.
Now Merritt is selling signed prints and is auctioning the original on her website.
Some of the proceeds from those sales will benefit Hurricane Matthew victims in Haiti and other places.
You can purchase or bid on the items at: http://www.tendershootfilms.com/
