This is a finger-painting.  No brushes were used in the creation of this image.  A small brush was only used after the painting was done in order to add the words and my signature.  This painting is too large to scan in its entirety, so the first image is a digital photo.  The detailed scans below offer the most accurate glimpse of this hopeful vibrant painting.

Power

Completed in 2004

12" x 12"

Acrylic on stretched canvas

The words in this piece read:  We are not what we have done.  We are what we believe.

(Details)

(The staple-free edges are painted black allowing you to display this piece unframed if you like.)

Power is such a vibrant, hopeful painting!  The colors in this one are really lush and lively.  And the brave tree and the words are so filled with potential, too.  This piece continues my interest in the subtle inclusion of language in art.  There are two phrases painted in tiny letters across the bottom.    They read, "We are not what we have done.  We are what we believe." 

The grassy hill area and the tree were first built up with fine-grade ceramic stucco before they were painted giving this piece a terrific tactile variety of textures.  And then came the color.  Power is a finger-painting.  I applied paint right from the tubes to the canvas and then blended colors by patting the canvas with my fingertips (like playing a drum).  It is a wild, messy process that has resulted in paint on every surface in my home and every item of clothing that I own.  Literally.  I buy paper towel in bulk and keep a bucket of water next to my easel so that I can clean up between colors.

ORIGINAL ARTWORK