In an interview about working in the studio, I once explained that  I enjoy being locked away from the world for a time.  I methodically close the door and paint. From memory, compiled sketches and photographs, I sit quietly listening to the sounds and murmurs around me until they pass away and my mind calms.   I must wait until I see a gem, an idea in my mind’s eye.  I attempt to release the idea while continuing to quiet myself, testing my new sensibility.

I feel artists work differently.  Some talk about waiting for their muse, others talk of working out of their bliss. Others would have none of this talk of muse or bliss. 

I once attempted to separate painting from my spiritual roots.  Having recognized the original gift  and even the calling from the Giver, I attempted to live out the calling painting on my own, not anticipating or expecting anything more from God but the original gift.  But I learned that as I was called to paint I was not abandoned to figure out the rest alone.  I don’t hear an audible voice or wait for automatic writing.  I am learning to comprhend what it means to enter His Rest.   If I abide in Him, I will bear fruit... and my fruit will remain. Why strive and burden myself excessively when I can rest in the assurance that I have a calling to paint and am not alone in that calling.  The pressure is off. 

I compare it to the sensibility my son held while running his 100 meter and 200 meter sprints.  To be the fastest and strongest and at your best, you must be able to deeply relaxed and enjoy the pleasure of the moment.

With that thought in mind, I work.

What is Pastel and Oil Painting?

Pastel and Oil painting are similar in that both medium's primary coloring agent is the same permanent pigments. The difference consists in the binding agent. Oil uses linseed oil while pastel which is primarily a dry media uses gum arabic as a binder. Both medium are permanent yet in slightly different ways. The pastels will never change colors or yellow, while the oil paint yellows with age, offer the mellowing so often appreciated in oil painting. Oil paint forms a hard film which is self protecting and durable while the pastels should be protected under glass. Pastels created hundreds of years ago are virtually unchanged in color today. Pastel offer a velvety texture, which have been great in creating my mist paintings. The oil painting which can show strokes of the brush easily can also be glazed over repeatedly with thin films of color to create subtle variations of hue and value that also is conducive to creating my subtle mist paintings