This morning, I gathered some of my most recent finished pieces together...
...pieces that I have completed, scanned, and had made (at considerable cost) into the most
breathtaking (if I do say so myself) giclees.
I hung them, gallery style, on my dining room wall.
I wanted to get an idea of the "full effect" when I place the originals all in one tent - my tent - at my art show in two weeks.
Here is what I saw:
I confess...like a proud mother, I almost got teary-eyed. So, in the interests of clarity and fairness, I called my neighbor to come give her opinion. {...the fact that my neighbor is one of my daughters should have no bearing on the outcome...}
SHE got teary eyed. But what happened next, I did not expect. She then noticed something I. had. never. realized.
You see, I painted all these in random order...at different times...giving each one my full love and attention, never, never-ever thinking about the piece that came before, or what I'd paint next.
Hannah said, "Mom. Look. These tell the story of a woman's whole life."
And with a little re-arranging of their order, I saw what she meant.
I about fell over. {...we say that, here in the south...}
Sure enough -
You see my piece entitled "Before Her Wedding", lower left. Then "Expectant", top right. Then, "The Mother", lower right. The smallest piece top left represents the community that supported her in those seasons.
Then, the other side -
The top left picture for me represents my twin daughters. For someone else, that piece could remind them of their own daughters, or of a mother and daughter, or of a woman and her friend - all, irreplaceable components in a woman's life.
The bottom left piece is entitled "Mother and Son". Oh, that piece alone has a million stories in all its many, intricate layers, and a lot of emotion. The bottom right piece is entitled "The Grandmother". And again, the (smallest) painting, top right, is the second in my diptych; it represents the "village"...the spiritual community that it took for me the woman to be able to grow and flourish in this fallen world.
Do you see it?
Do you see how, without trying to, I have by the grace of God created a body of work that tells a story that for me is powerful? Can you see why my Personal Art Consultation has become the most important, fulfilling thing I do? {I interview women, hear their stories, and paint something for them that depicts the significance of who they are...}
I have a new dream job. I can't wait to be hired to sit down with a woman and hear her stories...see the color of her hair...get a sense of her gifts...find out her most significant life events...and go back to my studio and paint six to eight paintings that depict her life stories, from early-on, right up till today...all various sizes, but able to be made into a gallery wall exactly like what is in my home -
I know it will happen. I feel like I know that I will get to do it. Perhaps sooner than I realize.
PS. Every piece here is available for you to purchase as a giclee that can depict your story or stories. As you can see, the impact of creating a gallery wall is beautiful. I invite you to become a collector of my work. Feel free to contact me here, with this link.
{I can't believe I finally get to say things like this...seriously. I am living a dream I have not earned and do not deserve. All is indeed grace.}
