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The Darkness and the Thrill of Hope

Blog/Vlog Link: The Darkness and the Thrill of Hope

No announcements this week, except that I repaired my big kiln, and then it over-fired anyway, but EVERYTHING WAS FINE. Almost everything. More about that in This Week in the Studio.

My Favorite Christmas Song

I mean, it’s hard to pick a favorite, really. I love Christmas songs, and that’s pretty much that. But the favorite that I want to bring forward today is titled O Holy Night. Why should I pick this one over another?

Because the world is a weary place just at the moment. It is  weary and quite dark; disease, scarcity, political infighting and unrest, isolation and selfishness just weigh me down some days. I’m sure you can relate.

Long lay the world, in sin and error pining…

Glorious Morn!

The power goes off. The sun goes down. The candle gutters and then snuffs out, and in the dark you can smell the acrid odor of the smoking wick. You grope for the matches, not sure whether you put them away or left them laying somewhere.

Then your hand lands on the small box and you light the candle and breathe a sigh of relief. Or you reach for the switch behind you on the wall, and there is light again. Or the power lines are repaired and all the sudden everything works again. These are common human experiences. We can all relate to them–we know what it feels like to suddenly or slowly find ourselves in the dark.

A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices

For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn!

The light shows up so much more brightly when it shines in the dark.

Light is all the brighter for the darkness. Hope is all the sweeter when it is contrasted with hopelessness.

Led by the light…

With glowing hearts…

Light of a star sweetly gleaming…

We all need a thrill of hope. Glowing hearts would not be amiss, either!

Contrast Brings out the Light

I am enrolled in a painting course taught by Alain Picard, and we are working our way through the first unit. These thoughts are in my mind while I’m painting. My best paintings are those where the contrast is obvious (while at the same time being painterly, of course).

If I forget to think about the contrast, I’m sunk. The painting will not be successful. It will fail to catch your eye or tell a story or give you a visual path to follow.

When I begin a painting I begin by reinforcing the dark colors–the shadow colors, the deep shade, the part of the form that is turned away from the light. I never use just one dark color, either. I use several different dark colors in the same area to add richness.

Then, when I begin to bring in the the midtones and the lights, the contrast is glorious! I layer the darker lights and then the lighter lights and finally, in the end, the very lightest light is applied, and BOOM!

Eye candy.

Seeing the Value Contrast

The darks and the lights, the shade and the bright–the values–are more important in art of any kind than the color, the technique, or the composition. I even sketch a “value thumbnail” before I start a painting, to help me make sure I get all the values right, and include plenty of contrast.

Values are important in life, too. I don’t know about you, but I already have plenty of darkness–plenty of laziness, selfishness, faithlessness, anger–I don’t need to work on that part. It is widespread and deep!

So what I need to concentrate on is bringing in the lights. Adding healthy habits, right thinking, diligence and kindness one by one until my life sings with joy. I can only do so because of the light that, through God’s grace, has appeared to me:

Till he appeared and the soul felt its worth…

The King of Kings lay thus in lowly manger,

In all our trials born to be our friend.

He knows our need,

To our weakness is no stranger.

Humble Values

Values aren’t a very exciting part of making art. Nor are they a very exciting part of becoming a better human. But they are essential in both art and growing better as a human being.

So whether you are an artist using art materials, or trying to craft a life of joy, make sure you create great values first.

And since I said that, it’s time for…

This Week in the Studio

First of all, gotta showcase my amazing young pianist! She earned her certificate for her first level!

Teaching humans to “see the music” is such a joy!

Here are some progress photos of the painting I am working on for the course I mentioned earlier. (if you watch the vlog, you’ll get to see me paint some of it).

Next, I’m excited to show you a couple of things that came out of the kiln today. What you need to know is that this is the kiln that was broken. I’ve been waiting for the part to come in to fix it. It came, and I installed the new part, but apparently I did not calibrate it well enough because the kiln over fired by a good cone and a half!

Y’all, I was so sick, so worried. Most of the pieces were either refires I was trying to make better, or test pieces–pieces I was trying a new technique on. But ONE of them was a platter I had been working on for several weeks for a friend. I really wanted it to come out alright! I thought that maybe the higher temperature might have ruined it.

But please…observe this gloriousness. Not a crack. Not a bubble. No warping.

And then there was this one: from a soup and sandwich set that I fired last time, but the tray warped badly and would rock from side to side. It flattened in the refire! (that’s not a guaranteed result, by the way, but there was no harm in trying.)

The rest still need another firing to add one more glaze detail. So stick around so you can see both the result from that and also the finale of the painting!

Don’t forget to check out the Vlog.

My magical friends…please be on the lookout for the music. Make sure your ears are tuned to hear the colors. Reach out and grope for that magic…it’s there. You just have to find it in the dark. Then the light will appear and wonder and worship will enter your heart!

Godspeed,

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