30×40 oil
This 30×40 canvas has been on my mind for a few weeks or months. I wanted something big on a particular wall in our new home and I wanted to capture the sunrises that we enjoy on this Texas Prairie. Using one of my photos, I painted big and was pleased enough to hang it, …only to walk by later and take it down to rework the sky, …several times. After another afternoon of painting and reworking, I walked out to “let it sit.”
Funny how when you are in the middle of a painting, it seems to sit there in your unconscious state for days, just waiting to be worked out. Anybody else? Well, our pastor made a statement that was an “aha” for me. He said, “You have to paint the whole picture, before you can see the light.” Now, he was not giving painting advice. It was much more spiritual than that. But those words wedged their way into what was going on in my own mind about how to solve this puzzle of putting light and dark on my canvas.
I wiped off as much as I could of what I had painted the day before, mixed up a dark blue and covered over the light. And I left to let it dry. (such patience) Only then was I able to pop in the light of the sun, waking us to another day.
So often we have to see the whole picture, the darkness that was there to begin with, before we can appreciate the change that is made with light.
Another fun fact to share — this 30×40 canvas has a painting of a dark swamp underneath. It was one of the darkest paintings I have ever done. When it didn’t sell, I decided to cover it with white gesso and use it again. So it truly has gone from darkness to light!