A Fine Commencement

A Fine Commencement is one of Reinike's Arch Series paintings, bringing together symbols of faith, knowledge, choice, and the journey of life. Reinike uses the checkerboard floor to symbolize the game of life, where every step has consequences.

An open book rests on the floor, its pages marked with Alpha and Omega—the beginning and the end—while the Hebrew tablets in the circular medallion evoke moral law and covenant.  Within the circle are figures suggesting Moses and the Three Patriarchs. Beneath them, vertical Greek text introduces a culture of philosophy, inquiry, and reason.

The archway opens toward a deeper chamber washed in the red of inner life, with a small window offering a glimpse of sky and passage beyond. A procession of figures appears along the right wall—a timeline of  generations who have traveled the path before. A palm tree rises at the left, bringing the natural world into the man-made architectural space and suggesting victory, renewal, and new beginning —but one of the dead fronds has dropped to the floor and partially covers the book.   

Together, these elements create a symbolic room in which faith, knowledge, moral choice, and human experience intersect. The painting becomes a meditation on commencement itself—the moment of stepping onto the board, beginning a journey whose meaning unfolds with every choice.