This is such a powerful painting that it actually makes me nervous.  I did not expect an image like this at all.  But what I got will likely change my work forever.  The experience of creating this piece actually gave me goosebumps.  Truth is a stunning image to see in person.  It is very intense.  The colors sing like some old-school Gospel diva.  They holler good things and wake you up!  This piece feels like electricity.  Like raw color served up on a nice platter.  And the active application of paint and the strong clear composition join together in a nice inviting dance.  This is without question some of the best painting I have ever done.

I am a little apprehensive about sharing this image with the world because it has a cross in it and religious topics make me very uncomfortable.  I am a deeply spiritual woman but I am not religious.  People who are very religious sometimes write me and feel it is their duty to make me be religious, too, and I am a little afraid that this image will give them cause to write me more often.  I do not want to be saved.  I believe that we are all born forgiven.  We do not require saving.  We are born of love and will always be loved no matter how we fumble through life.

I painted the cross because that is what came.  And because it is a powerful symbol of self-less giving and living one's truth no matter the consequences.  Most of the world's great religious teachings ring true for me.  I believe in the general tenets of Buddhism, Christianity, Native spiritual teachings, Judaism, and Islam.  But I do not believe that any one tradition has a singular hold on the truth.  The truth for me is love.

If you did not see the cross in this piece, but saw a window instead, you are not alone.  So far, about half the folks who have seen it saw a cross and half saw a window.  I think that is a really interesting thing in itself.  Both symbols suggest change, hidden possibilities, something more.

This image continues my interest in the subtle inclusion of language in art.  There are words painted in very small letters in four places on the canvas.  In the lower right corner of the blue window are the words, "I know love.  Love is the only truth for me."  And then in three separate spots across the bottom of the canvas are these three sentences, "I study love.  I practice love.  I have faith in love."

I would be happy if this painting could bring hope and comfort to the home of some fellow believer out there.  Someone who shares my conviction that love is how the Divine moves through our lives.  Only through love.

How Truth was created.....  This is one of those truly inspired pieces that arrived complete and without a struggle.  It fell out of me so smoothly it was startling.  I had no idea what I would be painting.  I primed the gorgeous hand-stretched canvas with black acrylic gesso and then used a deep brown paint to built up ridges around what would be a rectangular "window".  Once that dried, I used palette knives to apply paint and scrape it off and move it about.  I used the edge of a knife to abrade the surface.  And I allowed layers to dry before applying more smooth swatches of color and then scraping those off also.  The result was a weathered, rich soup of brilliant color.  Then I took a wide soft brush and applied washes of transparent color over the top of it all to pull it together.  Finally, I used tiny detail brushes and my fingers to apply key highlights and to paint the linework and the words.  This piece is even more vibrant in person.  It is a painting capable of defining an entire room.

This piece was painted on a large, 20" square, hand-stretched canvas.  A fellow in Arizona makes these just for professional artists.  It is incredibly sturdy, built on hefty kiln-dried wood that will keep your painting in proper shape for generations.  The deep, staple-free sides of the canvas have been painted black and provide a striking profile and allowing you to display your new painting unframed if you like.

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