Reading The Dazzling Darkness

When it came time for Mr. RockFord Orvin’s painting the creative challenge and invitation dazzled my palette.

My first mixed media on wood. Watercolor, pastel & colored pencil.

This project, I had started several years prior, as part of my spiritual healing. I didn’t know it would be for him. Or that I'd be returning favor to a best friend who continually blesses others with gifts of art. He's always making original pieces for other people.

I knew this was divine intervention.

I wondered if he had ever been gifted an original piece.

When he opened his present he gasped and covered his mouth with one hand. I could see it in his eyes. I felt it in our hearts. He'd been touched by the student. 

Thanks for teaching me so much about painting RockFord!

One With Everything

 “Wild mind, I had written, was outside our normal perception, beyond our constant discursive thoughts, as big as the sky. All we need to do is take one step backward, and we live in that mind, one with everything, not limited to the boundaries of our skin. It is the place where birds, clouds, old memories, horses move through us.”

The Great Failure | Natalie Goldberg

Mom

I had never painted dark shadow and space behind the main picture and its objects. Several layers bolstered the foreground. A choice to add purple and blue into mysterious scene behind our objects felt playful.

I love how the avocado made an appearance, and my love for burning candles in pewter candle stick holders: a find from flea markets in New York City.

This piece was for my mother! 

*Addendum: I finished the details over the flowers last week.