Men go abroad to wonder at the heights of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motions of the stars, and they pass by themselves without wondering.
– Saint Augustine
– Saint Augustine
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This new painting, a 20″ by 24″ canvas, is titled The Richness of the Moment . It was one of the last of the paintings finished for the Layers show which opens tonight at the West End Gallery. I saw the show hanging together for the first time yesterday and this piece hangs in a group of paintings along the back wall of the space that glows like a bank of backlit stained glass windows. There is a luminosity and richness to these pieces that fills that space with warmth. This work has just the effect as I had hoped it might have when I was looking at it in the studio..
I think this painting has a richness in it just as its title implies but it is the type of richness that Saint Augustine might have been referring to in the passage above. We often search wide and far for new wonders but don’t see the rich tapestry that is right before us in our own lives. There is wonderment to be found in almost everything we see or touch– it is only its constant presence that has made it seem ordinary and unremarkable to us. But if we pause to take in the world that within our reach at that moment with a greater awareness and appreciation, the richness becomes apparent. Each life has the potential for wonder and each moment that may seem ordinary has an element of the sacred within it.
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This painting, at least in my eyes, embodies this thought. It is simply composed and stated– its subject is absolutely unremarkable at first blush. But the colors and the juxtaposition of forms and tones that make this piece take on that feeling of the wonder in the surrounding richness to which I referred.
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The Sacred Ordinary.
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I hope you can make it in to the West End Gallery at some point over the course of the next month– the exhibit hangs until August 29th– to judge this for yourself. The opening reception begins at 4:30 and runs until 7:30 today, Friday, July 25. I will be in attendance for the duration to answer any questions you might have about the work. Hope to see you there!
Redtree Times 