Where There is Love, There is No Darkness

24" x 36"
Oil and Mixed Media on Canvas
SOLD


This painting is a special one because it was commissioned by a husband for his wife as an anniversary gift. It took him several weeks to figure out a composition that he thought she would really love and one that would compliment the decor of their modern home. The style was a bit of a stretch for me, but I really enjoyed working in a more abstract method and feel like this piece has pointed my future works in a new direction.

Since I knew the couple before I worked on the painting for them I know how much they adore each other, and when I came across the Burundian proverb that says, "Where there is love, there is no darkness", I knew that had to be the title of the painting. The proverb's simple clarity really struck a chord with me. From its inception, this painting was created with love. It may sound a little hokey, but while I was working on this, I feel like that light of love was working through me and manifesting itself on the canvas. I hope it brings Lulu and Pryce many years of happiness.

Three Flowers

6" x 6" x 1.5"
Acrylic and Mixed Media on Wood

“Love will inspire you to become a patient person. When you choose to be patient, you respond in a positive way to a negative situation. You are slow to anger. You choose to have a long fuse instead of a quick temper. Rather than being restless and demanding, love helps you settle down and begin extending mercy to those around you. Patience brings an internal calm during an external storm.

No one likes to be around an impatient person. It causes you to overreact in angry, foolish and regrettable ways. The irony of anger toward a wrongful action is that it spawns new wrongs of its own. Anger almost never makes things better. In fact, it usually generates additional problems. But patience stops problems in their tracks. More than biting your lip, more than clapping a hand over your mouth, patience is a deep breath. It clears the air. It stops foolishness from whipping its scorpion tail all over the room. It is a choice to control your emotions rather than allowing your emotions to control you, and shows discretion instead of returning evil for evil.”

- Excerpt from The Love Dare

Faith, Hope and Love

12" x 12"

Acrylic and Mixed Media

The powerful and timeless Bible verse spoke to me in this painting:

1 Corinthians 13:1-8a and 13

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails....And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.