Art for Sacred Spaces
On the death of a young woman, the daughter of good friends and a student of mine, her community was asked to make pages for their family’s “memory book.” My mind and heart focused on the grief Anna’s parents must feel on this inexplicable and senseless accident.
I am in the beginning stages of designing a large project for a Northwest church…Here you can see how I start playing with the ideas. I’ll keep you posted as things progress. Nothing is for sure yet…but I hope the designs are accepted. Here are three versions of a waterfall, sketches in pastel…
  
Only one of these three designs would be selected, and quite possibly altered to meet the needs of the church. The final banner would hang behind an alter that opens up to a baptismal font.
It would be about 30 feet long, and up to 8 feet wide, hand painted silk dye on silk Charmeuse.
The composition to the right here is my favorite I think. But I do like the yellow light in the sky of the other two. Maybe a combo?
What do you think? Leave me a comment.
Furthering the River theme would be several 8’x4′ panels on the walls depicting macro images of a river flowing from the waterfall and embracing the sanctuary. Here is an example of one of these sketches, done in watercolor, and a second one below.
I sure hope this project flies, as I’d love to do it. But you never know until the contract is signed. Send me good thoughts or prayers if you are inclined. And to the church that would commission these. I’d love to do this project.
Happy Easter everyone!
Here are the results of the layered wax resist technique from the previous post, with all the wax burnt off, the silk washed and hemmed. The result is lots of rich texture and motion behind crisp beautiful lettering by calligrapher Laura Norton.
I’m anxious to receive pictures of the banners hanging in the sanctuary of St. Ignatius, Portland, OR and will post them for you when they come. In the meantime, enjoy all the blossoming plants and the great sunshine!