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Several painter friends and I met inside the Sacred Heart Cultural Center, in Augusta, and searched for something to paint for a couple of hours on a cold, March day. The Sacred Heart Building, a former Catholic Church, was in disrepair for years when Pete Knox decided to restore and reopen the beautiful building. Today it is used for weddings, concerts, parties, and a variety of art events. Yet, the architecture, the stained glass, the sculptures and ornamental details are still rich with Christian history.
In the quiet, hollow cathedral, I walked around looking at light and shadow, colors and lines, repetition of shapes and tried to find a focus . . . and then I saw it . . . the face of Jesus carrying his cross. It was on one of the “Stations of the Cross” relief sculptures that line both sides of the building. I saw what I needed and pulled out paint to begin.
As I painted, a hymn tune began to play in my head:
“Man of sorrows what a name
for the Son of God, who came
ruined sinners to reclaim:
Hallelujah, what a Savior!”
(and the song kept going over and over for another hour while I painted, know what I mean?)
Yet, as I painted the face of Christ, I saw pain, sorrow, rejection and exhaustion. 
And I hummed to myself, “man of sorrows, what a name for the Son of God who came…”
I remembered his love and marveled at his endurance. I noticed the figures around him in the sculpture, some helping him carry the heavy cross, some mocking him and some perhaps begging him for one last miracle.
I worshipped through paint as I studied the face of Jesus and sang in my soul, “Hallelujah, what a Savior!”
This Lenten season is a good time to look on the face of Jesus, listen to His Spirit and remember.
It all began with a photo, my photo, taken on a sunrise walk at the beach. I truly believe that a painting is not all mine unless I am the one who took the photo, the one who visited the setting, the one who had the experience in order to be able to share it.
Back in the studio, I revisited that morning by first painting a small study to establish colors, lines and composition.
About a week later, I progressed to a 24×36 canvas. I sketched the shoreline with charcoal and washed in a rose underpainting with Gamsol.
The second photo shows the underpainting with liquid (Gamsol) washes of color. The third step was to look for “darkest darks” and apply them with thicker paint.
I thought I was finished when I reached this point pictured below, but after consulting some other artists, realized I needed to pull the viewer’s eye back into the painting. An artist friend pointed out some “con trails” (I had to look that one up) in the photo reference. I call them “airplane trails” and had intentionally left them out because they didn’t seem a part of nature. But looking at my photo, I realized that was what attracted me to the composition in the first place. The position of the trails were needed to hold the viewer in the picture plane.
I love the addition –the “wake up, it’s morning!” feeling that the lines contribute to the painting. And once again, an allegory comes to mind: in trying to leave out the impact of civilization on the natural world, I was leaving out the accent mark that added much to the composition. The Creator made this earth beautiful and then He added humanity as His icing on the cake. I’ll remember that and try to stay sweet!
I showed this to my husband and asked, “Who does this look like?”
He answered with a question, “Us?”
(Good answer, but not who I thought he would recognize.) The models are his brother and sister-in-law. But it could well be “us” with the sentiment behind it. We are strong together, even in dark times.
As I painted, I was impacted by the play of light against dark, the blinding strength of the sun, and the deepest cold darkness of the side away from the light. I could feel the wind of that fall morning on the beach and the warm comfort of an arm around my shoulders.
My Protector, My Strength, My Constant… all words that I use when I think about God and his relationship with his people. But these words also come to mind when I describe my husband! (yes, really)
It does not offend my worth as a woman for him to be the strongest, for him to be the bravest, for him to even be the tallest. I know he loves me and is my best friend. Almost forty years of marriage hold many stories of facing darkness and many blessings in the light. The faith and principles we base our marriage on have held us together. And in times of darkness the light always seems the brightest! (ok, not immediately, but in hindsight…)
This brother and sister-in-law have seen some recent dark times with health. They have come through on the other side, ready for the morning walk, ready to soak up the warmth of the sun, ready to see light and all that it will illuminate day by day.
Celebrating love, life and light!
“‘Tis a gift to be simple
‘Tis a gift to be free
‘Tis a gift to come down where we ought to be
And when we find ourselves in the place just right
It will be in the valley of love and delight.” —Shaker Hymn
I find myself humming the song in my head when I look at this painting. Gifts of dandelion flowers from a child is one of the simplest gestures of love we can experience. We know dandelions are weeds, even a nuisance to those who try to keep them out of their lawns. But when a child picks a dandelion and toddles over to present it to you, you can’t help but accept it with gratitude to the giver and admiration for his choice!
Accepting dandelions brings us down a level as we bend to reach the child. A humble place, a different perspective. And maybe, when we try to raise back up on our creaking knees, we will be reminded of the “place just right.”
Tis a gift to be simple, a gift to be free… and a gift to be given Gifts of Dandelions.
Puddles and Children – they seem to go together like peanut butter and jelly. These brothers are always up for adventure! Jumping in this icy, cold water in December was pure delight to them.
Do you enjoy jumping into “icy cold water,” new adventures, or beginning any change? Here is where I’m going with this… For years I’ve been primarily a Landscape Painter. I enjoy being outside and I enjoy painting about the beauty of this natural world. I worship the Creator as I paint landscapes. I have shied away from painting people. (To be honest, I felt totally inadequate about it so I avoided it.) So, today as I painted these grandsons, hopping with total abandonment, into these puddles, I realized “I think I have overcome my fear of painting people by jumping right in!”
I do need to give Gina Brown some credit here. She taught a figure painting class in October that rocked my world! I don’t have to paint the faces. I am capturing light and shadow on the figures. I am focusing on the personality of the children and the activity. And I love it!
So, with New Year’s Resolutions in mind, and a leading that I can attribute to God’s voice, I am jumping into painting people. Not portraits, but I strive to paint the activity of people, as life on this earth. I am reminded today, my worship of God happens not just as I marvel at the landscapes He created, but also, as I ponder and enjoy relationships of people – relationships with each other, and with Him.
When a customer first sent me photos of her grandson on a horse and asked if I could paint it for Christmas, I whined. I really did. I stressed over it and wondered if I could make it happen. Horse legs seem very complicated! I learned that these two are involved in a horse therapy program. The more I worked with the subject, the more I became drawn to this determined rider and this kind horse and how I could best express the emotion of their relationship.
I painted it this way. I love the results. But the best part of this painting experience was the message I received from the grandmother:
“He keeps coming back and picking up the painting and says ‘Mimi, it is beautiful.’ Thank you again for bringing love through your paintings.”
This is pure joy to an artist when someone as special as he sees beauty in the artwork and feels love from it. This affirms why I paint. This challenges me to do more to express love and peace through my art. This reminds me that it is a gift from God. May I always glorify Him. May I always be grateful for every opportunity.
Last night was a wonderful evening with so many friends and new friends coming out for the show, despite the rain. Be sure to visit the Gift Shop for the small nativity paintings and postcards. The red dots on six paintings denote sales! The paintings will be at Sacred Heart Cultural Center in Augusta, GA until December 22.
The Artist Statement from the show, “Back Roads…Back Yards…Back Home” is copied below.
Back Roads —-
I’ve traveled many dirt roads to outdoor adventures with my husband. There is something peaceful about breaking the sound barrier from a paved road to a dirt one. The higher pitched hum of the tires as they swish through sand, accompanied by crickets and frogs and birds singing through open windows, calling us to step back into nature’s more original state, away from today’s rushing society. There is something about the possibility of seeing just around a curve that brings hope. You don’t know what is ahead, but you can always hope. I like the idea of hope in my paintings.
Back Yards —-
I grew up when children could play in the back yard without the supervision of adults or fear or intruders. It was a safe place where our imagination took us to all kinds of fun. Back yards can often be the sanctuaries of beauty needed to encourage us after a day on the job.
Back yards supply southern flowers to give to friends, trees for shade, swings for comfort. In the front yard, one needs to be ready to meet others. In the back yard, one can be alone, unless they host the party.
Back Home —-
I grew up in Georgia, not exactly in the setting you would imagine from my paintings. (I was in a subdivision about a mile from the GSU campus in Statesboro.) Yet, in my adulthood, I have come to appreciate rural settings more than ever. The beauty of landscapes beckon me. The scenes and old houses I am attracted to in my paintings are from my parents’ era. And maybe that is the connection – for “home” conjures good memories and stories of the ones who provided home for me.
I pray my paintings speak peace, hope, beauty and worship of the God who created all. As you view the paintings, look with your own life experiences, let the paintings lead you to realizations about your own journey. You may travel a memorable road back home, and on roads toward the future ahead.
After struggling with how to come up with a nativity-themed painting this Christmas and “make it my own style,” I went through several sketchbook pages until this idea evolved. 
While many nativities emphasize the faces of the Holy Family, the beautiful colors of their clothes, and the cute barn animals surrounding them, I wondered, “What would Mary’s perspective be?”
So I imagined them from the backside of a donkey… And I thought about how very uncomfortable the mother of Jesus had to have been… how rough the trip would have been for a pregnant woman…how long the road seemed for both of them…
Imagine Joseph comes in one day and says, “Mary, you won’t believe what the government has come up with now! We have to travel to my hometown this week to be registered and taxed!” And the trip he referenced was going to be about 90 miles. They couldn’t even make the journey in one day! There is no mention of a donkey in the Bible, but we can only HOPE that Mary had one in her advanced stage of pregnancy.
As I painted on multiple canvases, I realized that once again I had ROADS in my compositions. Back roads, curving roads, leading roads, roads that aren’t always comfortable, roads that take one on new adventures…The theme of Roads seems to show up without me planning it.
I can only imagine the fear, anxiety, hopeful trust, boiling in Mary’s heart. It was a rough road she was on. It was going to get even rougher as she watched her son live and die. But with God’s help, she is a model for humble servitude, and such an important piece in the bigger picture for us all. She followed the road to Bethlehem that night in obedience, in trust, in anticipation.
May the roads ahead lead us on our journey in the bigger picture! May we take the time to feel the bumps, smell the scents, look beyond, and listen to the quietness of our souls.
These 6×6 and 12×12 original paintings will be available during the 2017 Christmas season. You may order them from me and find them at Sacred Heart Cultural Center Gift Shop in Augusta, GA or MAC on Main Art Gallery in Thomson.
FOR THOSE WHO LIKE TO PLAN AHEAD…
I know February seems like a long way away. But, tuck this away in your mind for “after Christmas.” This will be something to look forward to in the winter. AND, it is a great idea for a Christmas gift for Mom, Grandma, Granddad, …or Self!
The $140 tuition fee covers all four classes and supplies.
Signup Deadline – January 15
