A Virgin Mary Valentine Painting

Although not raised Catholic, like my French-Canadian family has been for generations, I still loved the Virgin Mary growing up. Maybe she was in my bones. She was definitely in my dreams. She came to me as I slept. Protecting me, at least some part of my soul for a tiny part of the night, from all the things around me that I needed protecting from. Maybe I made her up. Maybe she was really there. I don’t know. Her presence, real or not, comforted me though. My visions of her didn’t stop until, in my 20s, I started to repress them. Because I wasn’t Catholic and didn’t know how to make sense of what I was experiencing. So I closed that part of myself off and forgot about her eventually. We all have parts of ourselves that we were open to as children or in vulnerable moments that we are tempted to forget or close off because they don’t make sense to the rest of the world or in “the light of day.” But the Virgin Mary kept reappearing in my life. In many different ways. She never gave up on me even when I gave up on her. This painting is an ode to all those mystical and inexplicable parts of our lives that we don’t know how to talk about. But which have given us succour and comfort and compassion even when we weren’t really sure they made sense, really happened or even exist at all. But things don’t have to be real to offer sanctuary. So this painting is a thank you. And a huge Valentine to our invisible companions. *This artwork will need to be framed before hanging.* It is a watercolour, acrylic and plaster painting on A1 foam board. The piece has been varnished to preserve the painting and protect it from UV rays. The process for creating this type of work takes place in ten different stages. First, I have the experience that inspired it (often in nature). Then I meditate on that experience and come up with the meaning I want to translate into art and an initial colour palette for the feelings associated with that. Sometimes though, I do the opposite (start painting and then figure out what my body and unconscious were trying to express in later stages). I always start with colour though. Choosing a colour is my first step. Second, from that emotional colour palette I create a watercolour base. Third, I then sit down and meditate on the piece and think about form and texture. Was it a sharp or smooth or striped or diagonal or rough experience etc.? Fourth, I then apply a Plaster of Paris coat using those forms to move my arm and shape it over the watercolour. Fifth, I cut away images and form into that Plaster of Paris coat much like a reverse woodcut or linotype process. Sixth, I place the piece up on my mantelpiece and stare at it from afar while sipping a cup of hot, sweet peppermint tea. I’m looking to see how the composition works. Where it is balanced and where is it dynamic and what does it still need more of? The seventh, eighth, ninth and ten steps are just editing phases: more painting, plastering, cutting, sipping tea and staring, then fixing over and over again at progressively finer and more detailed levels until it is finished. The artwork is signed on the back. It is a piece of conceptual abstract art. It also comes with a signed Certificate of Authenticity. It measures 59.4 x 84.1 x 0.5 cm (23.4 x 33.1 x 0.19 inches). However, please note that given the plaster textures the actual depth of the work can actually range anywhere from 0.5-1.5 cm (0.19-0.59 inches).

Painting:Watercolor on Other

Original:One-of-a-kind Artwork

Size:33.1 W x 23.4 H x 0.6 D in

Delivery Time:Typically 5-7 business days for domestic shipments, 10-14 business days for international shipments.