Recently I completed my newest painting, which is on a huge 100 x 150 cm stretched canvas, and was painted with acrylics and mixed media.
This piece is the statement artwork of the new collection I'm currently working on, which is inspired by a single night, and will consist of snapshot's of different times of this night, telling an overall story.
This particular painting represents 11:59 pm. This is the final moment of the old day, just before the new one begins.
"Hand-Crafted Tears" represents the understanding that painful emotions and experiences, as hard as they may be, do actually lead to beautiful changes in ourselves and in our lives. It's the time of processing what has been or happened, and recognising that the tears we cry allow us to let go and release what has been bottled up inside. In order to cry, we need to feel safe, and if we feel safe we can begin to heal.
Often, the moment we find complete acceptance of the way we feel and allow it to come through, is the moment just before a new day. It's the passageway to being able to move on.
The creation process:
This painting is big, and definitely took me a while. I can't really say that I enjoyed painting it much until the very end where I go a bit crazy. Most of the time I go on about how important it is to enjoy the process and allow the outcome to be what it is, but in this case it was different because I knew exactly what I wanted from this painting, and I just had to do what I needed to do to get there.
That being said, I do know from experience that the paintings I cry over usually have a special quality that the ones that just appear like a breeze don't seem to have.
Inspiration
This painting was inspired by a photo that I took of my ceiling light, way back in 2015. I remember feeling a certain way when I looked at it, despite others that I showed it to not being that impressed. It was only recently that it came back into my mind and I put off painting it for ages because I didn't really want to! A couple of weeks went by and I just couldn't find inspiration for anything else because I knew I was meant to be painting this so in the end I gave in, and it has lead the way to a whole new world of ideas.
Christmas cards
This has been a challenging year for so many around the world, and coming up to the holiday season, I know it's not going to be the same as usual. I still believe that whether we can see our friends and family in person or not, sending a card to them during this time is a way of connecting. Connection to others is the only thing keeping some people going right now.
I felt that this painting specifically was the right message for this season, so I have created Christmas cards with this design that will be available to purchase through the "Christmas" section in my shop, if you would like to get some. When you purchase these cards, I will be sending 10% of the profits to the A21 campaign which is an organisation dedicated to freeing those in bondage. You can find out more at A21.org
When will the collection be released?
I am currently in the middle of this collection, aiming for a release date early 2021, although it may be sooner if I get a move on! This painting will be available to purchase when I release this collection, and I'm also planning on getting some prints done as well for smaller budgets. I would encourage you to sign up to my mailing list if you are keen on purchasing work, as my subscribers get early access, 10% off their first order and monthly email updates.
If you have any questions about the artwork, Christmas cards or anything else, please get in touch!
Thanks for reading,
- Sophie
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