Hold Tight

Hold Tight

 I am once again studying for the workshop I will be teaching in a week and a half, and it has been a good exercise for me! I have learned some new composition ideas, and am trying new things with my color combinations. I feel that my study, even if I don't teach exactly what I have been learning, will strengthen my teaching, and I really want to present a good workshop to the FULL class. Yes, I can confirm that the class is truly full. Woo-hoo!

10" x 10"

10" x 10"

Painted with the finest quality heavy-body acrylic paint on acid-free, heavy weight Fabriano watercolor paper

Mounted on 1.5" deep cradled panel, edges painted black

Click here to view on my website.

For this start, I first added extra texture to the surface, and then painted a layer of Dioxazine Purple, a Golden acrylic heavy body paint that has a very strong staining characteristic. It is transparent with a gloss finish, and that was perfect for accentuating the texture on the surface. Then I added marks with a Stabilo Woody pencil, with the idea of working for a cruciform composition. (You know that is one of my favorites!) But, as sometimes happens, the painting seemed to have a mind of its own. 

It truly is fun to work on a painting when it starts to "tell you" where to go with it. I don't really know how to explain what I mean, but if you are a painter, maybe you have experienced it too. This time the results are interesting, and I think I like it well enough to not paint over it! Ha! Though sometimes I change my mind on that after a day or so... 

Maybe you are a bit tired of hearing me talk about how I have been impacted by the loss of Mom, and how unsettling it has all been, but as usual, I am finding that my emotions and mental state have painted themselves. It has really been an adjustment as I am trying to refocus on my own painting pursuit, and on my own daily practices. Here are a couple of New Testament passages that have felt meaningful to me today:

Colossians 1:16-18

For everything was created by Him,

in heaven and on earth,

the visible and the invisible,

whether thrones or dominions

or rulers or authorities—

all things have been created through Him and for Him.

He is before all things,

and by Him all things hold together.

He is also the head of the body, the church;

He is the beginning,

the firstborn from the dead,

so that He might come to have

first place in everything.

Hebrews 10:23 Let us hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.