"Thrive!"

In 2012, after a life crisis, I began meeting with a meditation group at our church. One of the members led us in a lectio devina session, slowly contemplating part of a psalm, word by word. I was not really drawn to this process, but did the best I could. What leapt out at me from the psalm was simply the word GREEN.

And at the last step in lectio devina — “What does this suggest you do?” — the thought leapt into me like a spark: “Paint green!” I could hardly wait to get home to the oil pastel studio to begin. This painting, “Thrive!” is the result.

In creating a new life after a big crisis and change, I was really struggling to find a way to go on. You can see the shadow and darkness in this painting. Yet there’s also a radiance. And certainly “green” is a color for new beginnings, new life.

This is one of the first heart paintings I showed at a local gallery, where it quickly sold. Someone looking at my heart paintings there told me “They’re so luminous!” I was thrilled. Perhaps…I’d be able to go on, even to thrive.

What does this painting suggest to you?

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The story behind the “Thrive” heart painting was originally published Dec. 11, 2014 — Revised and republished August 5, 2020.

"Finding Love"

I hope you enjoy interpreting this painting as a life journey! Like the other paintings in the "Inner Landscapes" series, I intended it to be read left to right. Perhaps reading it right to left could make for interesting stories, too. 

Having told myself not to do any collage till I have more studio space, I found that I couldn't resist. Usually oil pastels aren't used in collage, but hey, I love technical problems! I did some experiments and found that both opaque white oil pastel and the transparent oil pastel blender -- both professional oil pastels from Sennelier -- make it possible to adhere the fibrous unryu paper I love, and here's the result.

Unryu paper has long threads that make it translucent yet quite strong. I've used this paper for many years, since first discovering it in a marvelous store in Chicago, Aiko’s, that specialized in Japanese papers. That store opened a whole new world to me.

By the way, "unryu" means "cloud dragon." Aiko’s has been replaced by Paper Connection, and now many art supply retailers stock gorgeous oriental papers. ‘Twasn’t always so! I still cherish two old, frayed sample catalogs from Aiko’s.

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This story was originally published Dec. 17, 2014, and was revised and republished August 4, 2020.