Courage My Love

You've seen this painting in several stages.... here, here & here ....but it's finally finished and delivered. This painting is really special because it has quite a story. Settle in with your coffee on this chilly day and I'm happy to share!

A friend of mine wanted me to create a painting for her new work-out room. She had seen this painting and wanted something like it... but bigger! She gave me total creative freedom and told me she trusted me. This is an awesome thing for an artist to hear, but also a little scary.... I started with no sure idea of where I was going....

One idea that stuck with me was painting a colorful background and then painting around the letters in black. I was so intrigued (and also afraid it would be a total flop!)... I decided to just try it! I've never done anything like this before, but I really enjoyed the process! At first, I did all of the lettering this way, but it just didn't feel right. I let the painting sit for a couple of weeks...

Finally, my friend asked about the progress. I tried to explain that it didn't "feel right". I know that sounds like another weird "artsy" thing to say, so I tried to explain. I told her how I wanted the colors, designs, textures and balance of the painting to all convey "Courage, my Love"... like the Lord says to us. How do I portray that?!?

So I hunkered down and spent an evening really focused on the painting. It's amazing how I had forgotten to look to the Author of creativity. I realized that God was telling me that the "courage" He gives us is strong, wild, fierce, bold and sure.... so that's what I wanted to express. Then the "my love" part showed His kindness, peace, assurance, gentleness and love. I painted these words with these ideas in mind.... soft, flowing and graceful. God is the true Artist.

I painted the background dark but with the colors of the first coat coming through in some places. I used a palette knife to create lots of texture to add to the depth. Then I gave the whole painting a coat of varnish so the colors would be very bright and the textures would show up!

I'm so thankful for awesome friends who let me paint for them and for my amazing God who is the author of creativity! What do you think of the painting? What does it say to you?