From the Easel: Commanding Presence

The view from the condo where I wrote Created For So Much More and did the final edits for A Guided Journal to Soaring With God faces west over Charlotte Harbor in Southwest Florida. Every night is an experience of watching Creator God paint a new masterpiece in the heavens. 

Every night I witness the truth of  Psalm 19:1 that says, 

“The heavens are telling of the glory of God;

And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.”

This painting was created based on the photograph of one such sunset. It wasn’t until it was on display in my studio gallery that a child pointed out the image I had unknowingly created. I overheard the boy exclaim, “Look Mom, it’s a puppy chasing a ball!” There, in the cloud formation was indeed a puppy chasing a ball. 

I love it when the Lord forms things in my paintings when I am focused on something entirely different. 

Painting clouds, which are made of vapor and light, can be a complex assignment for an artist who works in pigments. Pigment color is different than light color. This was one of the first paintings where I used what has become a standard approach to the unusual hues presented in sky and clouds. 

In order to replicate the unusual shades of gray and white that clouds present, I use complimentary colors—those that are on opposite sides of the color wheel such as blue and orange, or purple and yellow—plus titanium white. Mixing complimentary colors creates gray, but it can be a gray that has hints of whatever color I determine should be more dominant. 

Titanium white is a brilliant white that stands out against the grays and bring luminescence to the piece. 

I titled this piece Commanding Presence, because the vista at our condo commands your attention. Combined with the Presence of God that is so often evident in the sunsets there, the title became Commanding Presence. 

I used this painting to represent Created For So Much More VISION because that is the chapter where I introduce my brainstorming technique called Cloud Forming. What better way to represent that technique than with a painting based on one of God’s own cloud formations?  

Commanding Presence is 30”x40” and hangs on a wall opposite the vista it represents. Artist’s  Collection