When creating a painting, my work finds a basic structure using layers of acrylic paint, tissue paper, charcoal, and metallic leaf.  Within that framework there is a great deal of room for movement and intuition.  The process becomes a prayer, and the result is a prayer observed.  It’s also about finding a posture of surrender within myself, because no matter how hard I try, the materials will bend to my will only so far.

 

Every life has its ghosts, scrapes, and scars, and they need to be acknowledged and honored.  For me this comes by using wrinkled texture and deep black paint as a first layer on the canvas.  Madeline L’Engle said that maybe you have to know the darkness before you can appreciate the light, and I identify with that, as all my prayer/paintings begin with a starless black night.  Surrendering to this, I find freedom to experiment with color, opacity, and metallic leaf until I’ve found an integration feels rhythmical and organic.  I know the work is finished when it invites me to peace, having honored both the light and the dark.  This is important, because it creates a visual reminder of the way the Spirit of God is present my own lightness, darkness, and the space in between.