The starting image is of a local Mennonite Church, apparently on a cleaning day. More than most of my work, this painting has much intentional symbolism integrated into the imagery. I couldn’t help it – there were so many opportunities! The challenge here was incorporating the synergy of spirit while adhering to my mandate. Part of me wanted to ignore the mandate, and get carried away with my ideas of spiritual symbolism.
However, the mandate helped guide my decisions. The sky, part of the roof, and body of the building are all relatively unbroken, and there is a great sense of horizontality in the building, grass, and line of trees. Also, there’s a good amount of restfulness in the blues and greens that make up the greater part of the picture-plane. The tree bough shapes are puffed up with expansiveness, and joyfully bounding towards heaven, as if they’re in a Bouncy Castle. And there’s a certain amount of serenity in the figures sitting outside of the building, their work is done, for the moment, and they’re taking a well-deserved rest. Interestingly, the female Mennonite figures’ dress also resemble iconic female dress from Middle Eastern and Indian traditions.
The yellow takes center stage, and becomes key to some of the meanings in the piece: glory, sunshine, joyful happiness, new growth, and brilliance.
The trees, originally behind the building, have overtaken the roof, allowing the spirit within the church to commune with heavenly and Universal spirits. The greenish-gold is a reference to the life-giving energy of the sun through the process of photosynthesis, serving to calm our hearts, nourish our bodies, and clean our air. The blue inside the building, seen through the windows is the Holy Spirit, which is mostly interested in connecting with the trio sitting outside, and there’s a faint spirit figure in the right doorway, whose affiliation may or may not be with the dark side….
