The Darkest Night

The Darkest Night, 20"x24", acrylic and human emotion on cradled panel (sides unpainted), $2400, available through my website (where you can view in situ and zoom into the painting's surface). Painting will ship mid-November and arrive wired and ready to hang (no pressing need to frame, although one - no glass - can be added if desired). S&H inside the contiguous US is on me. Hawaiian, Alaskan and Canadian shipping available at additional cost. 

As an intuitive painter I never know where a painting is going to take me, what it will end up looking like or even how we will get there. I simply define a problem and set out to find the answer.

After returning from a 10 day adventure on Monday none of the in process paintings in the studio grabbed me, so I started something new. I only had 90 minutes to paint so I had to do so quickly. Stepping into a painting session knowing I would only scratch the surface of the idea was probably one of the best decisions I could make. No time to overthink decisions, just grab the brush and go.

I was curious about merging Bear+Sky in a way similar to the Bear+Floral (Mask) pieces I've been doing (these are all over on my website). Bear needed to be solid and unmoving with Sky also carrying a strong presence. The two things integrated into a singular space.

I chose to work overtop an older piece, Cloud Spotting, that I had begun to see as lacking oomph. I loved Bear's features, wishing she had more solidity and less of a vapid gaze. But she already carried elements of Sky, which was helpful.

And this is what came of that. Easily, too - I showed up and she fell off my brushes (which, I tell my students, happens when you do the work. As a daily painter of 20 years, I think I've done the work).

It's not lost on me that a critically important US election happened Tuesday (her second painting day) while I distracted myself at the easel. That an unprecedented blue wave was certified on Wednesday (the final painting day) when I completed the piece. Neither of these things were part of my conscious effort. And yet, I see them both embedded in the painting.

The Darkest Night is steeped in hope, made with human hands, a reflection of love's capacity.