Paintings Deconstructed

What inspired the paintings to make it to canvas

Trust…Interrupted

I remember the night that I began composing this piece.  It was a night filled with extreme, almost of  “not of this world” emotion - emotions so strong and on edge that I felt both enraged and calm - as if I was adequately responding.

When you totally surrender yourself - emotionally, physically, spiritually, financially and completely invest and trust another human being…this type of commitment takes work and evolves over time.  It takes a great deal of investment…so when this trust…a sacred trust is broken, the world begins to shatter.  You are so mad, upset that you feel as though you are going to explode - pieces of you are shattered and lost.

But, honesty, hope and forgiveness will survive and a new beginning will emerge. Everything is possible with God’s unconditional love!

 Everyday People

I began painting “Everyday People” this summer – the summer of 2020 in the midst of Covid 19 and of people of every race throughout the world pouring into the streets calling for justice, equality, and peace. I remember that I was “surfing various music apps for a genre or song. I came across “The Best of Sly and the Family Stone” and from that point this new artwork was conceived and born. The song, “Everyday People” reflects what I was inspired to express in this painting. The work intentionally uses race colors for the 1960’s era background and vibrant colors for the faces of people to reflect that all colors are beautiful – that we should look at each other as incredible, one of a kind, creations of God. “Everyday People” is a plea for justice, peace, and equality between all races and social groups and a call to a perfect-world vision of people from different races and different walks of life learning how to come together and respect each other’s differences. “I am no better and neither are you, we are the same whatever we do. “

One Nation

The American Flag has stood as a symbol of freedom throughout the world. The flag exemplifies the very essence of the American story – a story of liberty, justice, freedom, and love for all people. The American Flag has been used to display our nationalism, our rebellion, and everything else in between. It is in this light the work, “One Nation” was born. The 13 stripes represent the diversity of our nation. The background of the stars which would usually be blue instead are segments of original news articles of historical life-changing events in American life such as Kent State, Women’s Suffrage, Martin Luther King, LGBT rights, etc.., symbolizing the strong foundation on which our country was built. The stars are replaced with 50 clay faces of different races signifying the diversity of our people who are the true stars of our nation.

Hypocrisy

“Hear no, Speak no, and See no”.…not just evil but the lack of responding to the needs of the world. This work was inspired from the humanitarian work I was involved with in the Dominican Republic. Some years ago when the Pope traveled to the Dominican Republic and because the leaders of The Church didn’t want the Pope to see the poverty, a wall was built separating The Church from the people in need. All too often church leaders are engulfed by their own position in The Church. They are consuming so much of The Tree of Life that the branch is starting to break from the weight of The Church’s gluttony

The Iris

The Iris symbolizes the trinity of Faith, Hope, and Wisdom.

Faith – A hope for a tomorrow and symbolizing everything that is good in the world  and all that we have yet to look forward to in the future.

Hope – The belief that one day we will reach the happiness that we are striving towards. It is a reminder that there is a great deal of good in the world, but that we have to be persistent

in finding it.

Wisdom – Conveying eternal knowledge and desire to always learn more and have an inquisitive nature in life.

The center floral color of yellow is symbolic of the golden, Divine Light which exists in each person when connected in a sacred meeting between ourselves within The Spiritual World and The Physical World

Shattered

This work is a very emotional piece for me to work through as it represents the struggles that endured by people who are in love with one another and want to express the culmination of their love in marriage. The background begins with stereotypical images of “the perfect family” with pictures of various “TV” families of the past. Overlaying these pictures are historic articles of the struggles of interracial and same sex couples as well as inequities of racial and sexual orientation discrimination with broken pieces of humanity scattered throughout. The 10 whole figure couples that were created represent that diversity will prevail and that old beliefs are shattered, through the price paid by many people pushing through the shattered pieces of their lives in the hope of a better tomorrow. I know that as a “modern family” we have pushed through prejudice on different occasions as my husband and I along with two of our children were seated in a restaurant and were denied service by a member of the wait staff because we were a gay couple. “Shattered” calls us all to smash the prejudices that surround us and to be agents of God’s grace and promote respect, equality, and love of one another.

Black Eyed Susan

The Black Eyed Susan represents justice, encouragement and motivation – to stay “on the path” of wellbeing and pursue what is best for us in life and to push on towards righteousness, fairness, and integrity. The very nature of the flower with the golden petals giving light to the dark center as the light of justice brings the dark side of our souls to the surface – not to condemn, but rather to encourage, accept and motivate us to overcome any darkness that may be hidden within us. The flower compels the soul in its assimilation of both light and dark, perceived and hidden aspects of its consciousness.

My Madonna

The name madonna means My Lady and is of Latin origin. For many of us, the word Madonna symbolizes the epitome of motherhood. Mothers are very often the emotional backbone of a family as mothers do everything that they can do to keep their children and family from being hurt. However, there is no one definition of motherhood but rather a combination of raw emotions, fortitude and an encourager of the hopes and dreams of their children. A woman who works diligently to ensure that their child is equipped with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to be a competent, compassionate, and genuine human being. This work strives to encapsulate the whimsical, wonderful, and awesome power of a parent’s love. The pink carnation in the background of this work symbolizes a mother’s undying love.

Poppies

Because there are many ways to interpret the message of the poppy symbolism, the best way to understand its meaning is to have a strong sense of self. The better we know ourselves, the better we will be able to interpret these universal messages and understand how they are applicable in our everyday life. I remember as a child seeing veterans distributing artificial poppies for people to wear to recall the lives of those who had given their lives for our freedom. The poppy calls on us to remember those who have passed away to protect us and all that we love and to develop our own sense of inner peace.

In Christianity, poppy symbolism is seen as a metaphor - the red petals of the poppy symbolize the blood sacrifice of Christ, themes of resurrection and immortality – the blossom that never really dies, just renews and ascends. One of the mediums that is utilized in this work are egg shells as eggs are the symbol of hope, purity, and the cycle of life.

The Way

We all love and connect to God in different ways. God created us all with certain personalities and spiritual temperaments, which make us gravitate towards certain types of practices and prayers. God wants us to feel free to worship, according to the way God made us. A sacred pathway describes the way we relate to God, how we draw near to God. We can identify our sacred pathway and use practices which come naturally to that pathway as an easier way of connecting to God. We do not necessarily have to have just one pathway, most of us, however, will naturally have a certain predisposition for relating to God, which is our predominant spiritual temperament. There is not one “right way” to a spiritual life – we all have our own unique spiritual journey and learn from every step on “The Way” to the sacred pathway of this life and the life to come.

Gladiolas

Too often Gladiolas are associated with death and funerals –as the “standard” funeral flower. In actuality, the symbolic meaning describes Gladiolas as “our ladder to the heavens”. The stretched-out stems of the Gladiola towards the cosmos symbolizes reaching out in faith, consistency, and never forgetting and never giving up, but rather believing in great blessings.

Sunset

A sunset, the resting of the sun for the day, is a reminder that the day is almost over. A sunset is a reminder that the day is coming to completion. A sunset serves to remind us of how important and sacred time is in our lives and that we should not take this gift for granted. It calls on us to reflect on the day and if we have accomplished all that we hoped to do or towards becoming the person that we are striving to be in this life. A sunset is a beautiful spiritual experience of time and existence.

The Beloved

The love between Jesus and John The Evangelist has been celebrated by artists throughout the ages. The Bible describes their warm relationship on multiple occasions. The “disciple whom Jesus loved” is referenced five times in the gospel of John (John 13:23, 19:26, 20:22, 21:7, 20). Church tradition identifies him as John himself. No other male disciples were present at the crucifixion. From the cross, Jesus entrusted the Beloved Disciple and his mother Mary into each other’s care. Many modern scholars have expressed belief that Jesus and his Beloved Disciple shared a loving physical relationship. “The Man Jesus Loved: Homoerotic Narratives from the New Testament” by the late Theodore Jennings, a Biblical theology professor at Chicago Theological Seminary. He finds the evidence “inconclusive” as to whether the Beloved Disciple was John, but it leaves no doubt that Jesus had a male lover. If you think about it, if God took all our human attributes to The Cross then Jesus experienced all our human relationships.

The Embrace

To embrace someone is to passionately welcome them with open arms, hold, hug, accept completely – unconditionally. A genuine embrace is more than just a gesture of love and kindness. It can cheer us and relieve depression. An embrace doubles as a communication method; it can communicate anything from “I’m sorry” to “I love you”. In fact, an embrace or a hug can say a lot more than any number of words can convey. In an embrace, both the giver and the receiver feel the love. An embrace is a sign of acceptance. Hugs do not require any equipment. An embrace can be given to literally anyone at any time, while a kiss cannot. Hugs can reduce stress. An embrace can make your day, and maybe even save someone’s life. Hugs are a good daily medicine because everyone needs love to be happy. Hugs are an embrace of pure love. Hugs can change the world, one loving embrace at a time!

Kinship  

Some years ago, I studied at St. George’s College in Jerusalem, Israel. While walking within the old walls of the city, with Muslim, Jewish, and Christian people working and living amongst one another, it hit me that we as humans have a kinship with one another. As children of God, we are kindred spirits with the same likeness to twins, triplets, etc. If we genuinely believe that we have a spiritual kinship with all people of the earth, then we would be so empowered to care for all people as we would care for the most intimate people in our lives. The challenge is not so much to believe in this belief, but rather to put the belief into action and to live a life that genuinely strives to reflect such a belief.  

Natural Joy  

Our environment influences our mood. Sometimes life gets hard, and it is difficult to see the light in the midst of the darkness that seems to surround us. The natural beauty of flowers helps us to feel better – to have a positive mindset. They make our environment more welcoming and healthier.  

Sunflower

Sunflower has been considered a symbol of joy and life, but also a symbol of loyalty and longevity. This flower radiates passion and positive energy as it naturally turns itself to the sun every day – just as we need to naturally turn ourselves each day for direction and strength to God.  Red and orange sorts of Sunflowers are symbols of passion and strength. The message is clear – always stand tall and to face everything with a head up high - always turning to the source of our strength, looking for a brighter side of each da