Hi Everyone,

I hope you are having a good start to your summer. At the ArtWalk earlier this month I got a lot of compliments for my work, but can’t say the same for sales. However, I am thankful for the meaningful conversations I had and new connections I made. The image below links to my gallery highlighting a few of my pieces.

When I had chances to visit other artists in their booths, I asked deeper probing questions to those who featured spiritual themes in their work. They were inspired by meditation practices and calming frequencies, and I commented that their circular patterns and glowing shapes like celestial bodies looked a bit like my “God of the Heavens” triptych. My circular paintings express how God uses the stars to reveal his glory. (I haven’t set them up for hanging yet.) I saw right there how the viewer brings emotional responses and associations to our art that are meaningful to them, independent of our thought process behind it.

For the rest of the month I was working on my first major commissioned artwork for Defend Dignity, an organization that works to end all forms of sexual exploitation in Canada. Their founding director just retired June 30th, so her team and family recently celebrated her achievements, and this oil painting was presented to her.

Here are other things Defend Dignity does besides raising awareness about these abuses, which help to explain the choice of setting for the piece.