BEGIN AGAIN

It feels so good to be back in the studio lately putting my hands to a new body of work.

This canvas was many things before becoming what you see below. The layers of transformation provide texture and visual depth to the finished work. These elements, along with the earthy, minimal tones really came to life when I varnished the piece. I am often nervous to apply varnish. It’s so final. What if it messes something up? What if I see something else I want to tweak, but now I can’t? But this experience showed me that I can be excited about getting to that final stage of the process. It can, in fact, improve the work and allow me — and you — to see it in a whole new light. And it protects the work from dust, UV rays, and surface contact for years to come.

I call this painting “BEGIN AGAIN” harkening back to an important phrase that we lived by in my days of intentional community. It is among the valuable things I have taken from that season into the “after” years. In St. Benedict’s guiding text for communal life, he wrote, “…even when we fail, always we begin again.” Always we begin again. We do. We must. We get to. Begin again. And again.

This is the first visual work that I have been confident in and personally pleased with in quite some time, which was satisfying enough in and of itself. But it turns out that it resonates with others as well! Among the many kind comments online, one stood out:

“Sarah, this helps me breathe. Thank you.” -B.E.

That’s all I could hope for! In a fast-paced, chaotic world that in so many ways steals our breath, I want to make work for slower paces and softer spaces. Work that invites and accompanies us in even fleeting moments of peace and deeper breathing.

I will be delivering “BEGIN AGAIN” to a collector’s home this weekend. I have long admired and enjoyed her art collection, and it is an honor that she sees this work as worthy of her investment. To have a piece among any already-beautiful collection will be a a great joy.