FSGC Painting

I am officially underway on my next painting which is a donation piece for Family service and Guidance Center. FSGC is a nonprofit community mental health center that provides direct services, prevention education and community outreach to more than 12,000 children and families from over 40 Kansas counties each year. Founded in 1904, FSGC provides a broad range of services and is the only mental health center in Kansas that dedicates its resources and expertise exclusively to children and families.

One of their primary annual fundraising efforts is the “Works of HeART” exhibit & auction that features artwork from both local artists and FSGC clients. Each year they match up one local artist with a client poet to create an artwork inspired by the child’s poem. I am honored to get to be that artist this year!

The poem I selected is from a young girl named Ryleigh M. You can see her poem enlarged and collaged into the center of the blank canvas. I’m very excited for her to see her own handwriting faintly in the finished painting! I also have collaged the text for Matthew 22:37-39, Psalm 19:1-3, and Romans 1:18-22. These verses have been strategically selected to help answer the questions posed in Ryleigh’s poem. More on that in future posts.

Last night I got the background very loosely blocked in with a base coat of color. I always try to pray before starting a new painting and ask God to guide my hand and inspire my thoughts. As I was beginning to sketch in the horizon line for the landscape, I noticed the hill on the left had a curve that was reminiscent of a thumb. I have plans to eventually place a few figures in this landscape and realized it could be powerfully symbolic to allow the landscape to be suggestive of a hand and place the figures in the palm. I honestly kind of got chills when the notion struck me. God gets full credit for that one!

I have just barely begun, but I’m already really excited about the direction of this one. Stay tuned for more progress shots and details as this develops.

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