All is Well – 40″ x 40″ – watercolor on paper, cut into tiles, wax, on board
Creation is a whole made up of many parts. Animal, vegetable, and mineral, each of us is one of these little pieces of the puzzle. We are similar, all being made up of some combination of fewer than a hundred elements, but each is unique. No single dog or rock is just like another dog or rock, and certainly no single person is just like another person. But we also exist in relationship to the whole; as John Donne put it, “no man is an island unto himself.” When we are aware of our relationship with the whole, we are more able to live in harmony with all the other little pieces, and that is a beautiful thing.
This piece was made as a permanent installation for the back wall of the sanctuary at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Longmont, where I’m the artist in residence. The title, “All is Well,” was inspired by the music I was listening to as I painted the papers, cut them into many little pieces, and made them into a mosaic. The album “All is Well,” by one of my favorite musicians, Hans Christian, is cello improvisations, recorded live in Chartres, France. He makes masterful use of looping and delays in his live performances, giving the music a marvelous depth, and a quality of patterning (for lack of a better word) that makes a great background for me for making art. (and no, he doesn’t pay me to tell you this; we just enjoy each other’s creative expression!)