Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Trust God, a commission

Collage 9" x 12"

This is a piece I made as a commission before I got sick about 2 weeks ago, and is the only art I've done lately. Sometimes when I don't feel well I simply vanish into a series of books , emerging only when I'm on the mend. Even though my sketchbook was beside my chair I never touched it except to move it. But now I'm back and I'll tell you a bit more about the piece.

The clients gave me carte blanche and asked me to use Proverbs 3: 5-6 in KJV. It seems that this is one of the most popular verses in the Bible, and no wonder. In my NIV it reads, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight".  

Normally I don't like to do commissions but this one was a pleasure, though from the time they asked me until the time I actually started working several months elapsed as I thought about what to do. As it turned out there was no advance preparation; I simply started working.

Knowing the colors used in their home I knew I wanted to use yellow and red so I started looking through my painted papers for usable material.  Some of what I used came from sessions with spray paint and stencils. The figure in the lower right quadrant is a stencil I cut to represent myself or 'woman'.

The lower left is a piece of washi paper that I ran through my pleating machine and dyed while still on the gathered thread. I ironed it flat and glued it down and then journaled about the verse on top of the painted paper, deliberately camouflaging portions of the very personal words. The rest of the text is done with individual rubber stamps, like I do with my sermon notes series.

The clients love it and everyone is happy except me... I hate to give it up! But that happens to most artists who are pleased with their work.


8 comments:

  1. Glad to hear you are on the mend. I'm the same way when I'm sick, trying to create is the last thing I seem capable of doing.
    Beautiful piece, very unique with the pleating and such.

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  2. Jo this is a wonderful piece, you work always has such a pleasing visual appeal.

    and I have long loved your sermon note series.

    glad you are feeling better...

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  3. Sorry you were sick-glad you're feeling better. This one is awesome. I love that pleated technique!!! Gorgeous piece. So glad to see you have the series posted on flickr! did I know that?! Well-I do now. I've been bragging about you & this series-now I can show my friends.

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  4. Thanks for your welcome encouragement and well wishes. I'm back to normal and working on a new sermon note.
    Thanks for bragging, Marge. Mother used to be the one who bragged; you can be her stand-in.

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  5. Beautiful! Thanks for the link to your sermon notes!

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  6. Jo,
    This is outstanding! When you do these pieces, like your sermon note series, there is such power in the message. Please do more… make a book…. God speaks through your work!

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  7. Did you notice YOUR image (the one in the shadow shot on your sidebar) is on the painting?? Wow..how beautiful is that!!??

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  8. This is beautiful! Love it!
    Patsy from
    HeARTworks

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I appreciate comments and questions.