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Painting is one of the primary ways that I spend time immersed in spiritual practice. When I am painting time simply ceases to exit and I am filled with a deep peace that is unmatched anywhere else in my life. As a child I had no words for this experience. As an adult, I offer an attempt to frame my experience with the following words that I use for my artist statement.
When the world reveals herself to me
grace and despair intertwined,
When she saturates me with pungent moods,
she draws me and her display entices me
to respond with visions of my own.
Childhood memories of crow-talk and salt water,
even the fragrance of evergreens,
encourage the red doors of my studio to invite me in,
Where I find myself standing before paper and canvas,
like a prayer.
Thought moves brush and paint and water to converge,
Internal whispers offer the naming and its reason,
And I can soar like Hopkins’ dappled Windhover
while the shining watercolour, an opaque sweep of gouache,
complete in part this journey’s work.
Love me through creation and I am forever changed.
Love those who view and are we not all changed?
Spirit renewed,
sacred life-song rises with the sun.
In gratitude I lift my brush again.
One of my favourite memories at United Churches of Langley is the Paint-During-The-Service Pentecost Sunday in 2010. A group of members from the Fort Langley site (St. Andrew’s) responded to the sermon and bible readings by painting in the hall during the service.
I named my painting “Any Given Sunday” and as I incorporated the words from the readings and the traditional Pentecost colours into the work, I tried to convey my hope that the light of faith and church is present on any given Sunday.
Written by: Elaine Chatwin