I officially love painting large

I wanted to share with you all a special commission I received recently. As some of you know, my husband is a music producer, which makes for some fun clients who become friends. He has worked on several projects for Jess Ray and Taylor Leonhardt, who also have a band together called Mission House.

Mission House loves to write worship songs that people can really sing and they always say, “God puts the lonely in families.” They have these events called Family Nights, where they ask friends of theirs to collab on leading songs, writing with them, and gathering people to sing and worship together. The evening is live and gets recorded so people can listen back and feel like they were there too.

I’m an artist, but I’m also a worshipper. My husband is a singer/songwriter, music producer and also a worshipper. We were excited to be asked to be a part of this “Family Night”, so that we could worship together with our friends, and also lend our talents. My husband helped co-write and lead a song that was shared that evening. I was able to be there in the crowd, singing along with them, and I was honored to be asked to paint a backdrop that would serve as the main aesthetic for the evening.

It’s the first time I have painted this large. The canvas was 8.5 feet by 7 feet. I cut a huge canvas roll to this size and hung it on our studio wall (with the help of my sweet husband). It took two weeks of climbing ladders and layer upon layer of paint. I would paint a layer at a time and evaluate what the work needed. I so loved the process. I found that using more of my body to create this work was super inspiring compared to the average small painting I create. It exercised a different creative muscle if you will. I also painted in silence. Normally I listen to music or throw on a podcast, but this time I really wanted to create with that inner leading, the still small voice, and drown out the noise.

I honestly enjoyed the process so much I am hoping I can have other commissions like this to be able to create a space that is fully surrounded in color. It marked the evening in such a beautiful way.