Bejeweled

Bejeweled

 I have almost finished a book that I have apparently (since there is underlining in it) read before, and boy howdy, am I liking it! The book is The Christian Imagination; G.K. Chesterton on the Arts by  Thomas C. Peters, and to be honest, it makes me want to binge on Chesterton for a while. I do have some of his books, but may want to look for more. I am not at all sure when I would read them though.

 24" x 24"

Painted with artist quality heavy-body acrylic paint on 1.5” deep gallery wrapped canvas

Edges painted black

Click here to view or purchase on my website.

This coming weekend, something impossible is happening. It is the 40th reunion for my high school graduating class, and I am just sure that has to be wrong. I think it was just a few months ago that I visited my old high school and talked to my teachers that were still teaching there, and I had not yet graduated from college! 40 years just seems like such a big number... how can that be right?

When asked about ideas for a title for this painting, my Beloved Husband, my sparkling daughter, and my musician son gave different thoughts based on what they could see in the painting. "Thunder and lightning," said my Beloved Husband, capturing some of what I had been thinking about as I have worked on this for the last several weeks. (I love a well-mannered thunderstorm!) One of the things I have been dealing with lately is difficulty hearing in one ear, and I realized that I have painted the sound of the thunder. 

"No, I see a jewel," said my son. Oh, yes! That is also evident in the painting, and also expresses some of my intentions as I painted. Metallic color, layer upon layer with shapes from previous layers showing through like they do in a cut gem stone, something different in each part of the painting - yes, it is also like looking into a deep green jewel. 

In response to these ideas, the message from my daughter was "It's actually a winter and summer pond simultaneously - not a storm OR a jewel... cracked ice and lily pads..." I love the creativity of seeing the preposterous - a simultaneous blooming of life and freeze of stillness. 

I have been doing quite a bit of plein air painting lately, and those paintings are currently only listed on my Daily Paintworks gallery site. It has been a good learning experience for me, and I have LOVED being outside on nice days to paint. Somehow it just seems wrong to be inside on a perfect day, doesn't it? I don't know how much of the plein air work I will be doing in the future, but so far, it has been a good daily painting practice to keep my brushes in paint, and keep my mind learning. 

My Bible reading lately has been in the New Testament book of John, because I just have felt like I needed to see Jesus. What a beautiful book John is! I have learned a lot, even though I know I have read John many, many times before. Today was John 14 - absolutely a favorite chapter for me. A few of the verses that really stood out to me today were these. 

John 14:1-3 “Your heart must not be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if not, I would have told you. I am going away to prepare a place for you. If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come back and receive you to Myself, so that where I am you may be also. "

John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Your heart must not be troubled or fearful."

I went to a solo exhibit of paintings by one of my favorite artists this week, and the docent at the gallery asked me, "What would you recommend for someone who wants to learn more about abstract art? Is there a book you would recommend?" My first thought was that many of the books about art that I would recommend would not be helpful when it comes to abstraction - in fact, the authors have no love for my style of art. As I started to say this, the docent began asking more questions about technique and methods, and I realized that his focus was not on the philosophy behind the art, but on the composition, color theory, values, balance, etc, and we talked for quite a while about all of those things. There is so much to abstract art that some may not realize. I have found that each facet of a painting is something that requires focus and I have had to study and learn how to apply methods and principles in order to paint a body of work that communicates hope and joy, even though sometimes paintings have to delve into painful things. 

So, why such a meandering post? Do you feel a little like you need to pause for a breath after reading it? (I think I do.) Well, let me see if I can put it all into words. I have painted many 'facets' of my life into this painting, and have blogged about a few of them today to give you, dear reader, a feel for this painting. And in spite of the fact that some of the aspects of life that have been painted into this work are difficult or unpleasant, I want you to see the beauty and hope of the whole, even when the 'inclusions' in this jewel may be considered flaws by some. (I have no idea if this makes sense to you, but maybe my painting says it better than my words can.) I want my painting to be peaceful, pleasant, and even in a sense, pretty.

"The artist is a person who communicates something... But it is a question of communication and not merely of what some people call expression. Or rather, strictly speaking, unless it is communication, it is not expression... The artist does ultimately exhibit himself as being intelligent by being intelligible. I do not say by being easy to understand, but certainly by being understood." G. K. Chesterton, as quoted by Peters in The Christian Imagination, p. 47.