I’ve been working on this painting for a while now. The sky is the farthest background, so that’s the area of focus. All the while it’s been pretty standard, putting paint here and there, by design or by whim. But today, with a single stroke of paint, the moment of quickening arrived.

Moment of Quickening

What does that mean? When a woman is pregnant, the quickening is the first time she feels the child move. It’s the feeling of LIFE – growing, thriving.

In my painting practice, until I feel that moment of quickening, the work is just the work of adding paint to canvas. While I might be happy if the outline and layout is working, it doesn’t yet feel alive.

And there’s no way to predict what exactly is going to give it life, or how long it will take. But when it happens, the feeling is unmistakable. The painting suddenly feels right, and alive.

The moment of quickening for this one was surprising!

A little flutter, not too different from that of an embryo letting the mother know it’s there, this painting let me know that it was alive at last.

It came with a single stroke of white in the yellow area of the sunset. As soon as I’d placed it and smoothed the edges, I felt it like … I have no words to describe how it felt. But it was exciting, and immediately recognizable for what it was.

The Moment of Quickening – It’s Alive!

Ha, I know that to the average viewer, there’s no way to see the moment. Just know, that to me, it was tremendous! My drive to paint suddenly refreshed with urgency. It was fun before, but now there’s intention. Something changes in the way it all feels when the moment of quickening arrives.

It’s a joyful feeling.

Anyway, Onward towards Completion

I still won’t be able to work quickly on this one. Each layer still needs time to dry thoroughly between. The next step for me here is to give a better definition to the red orange spaces bordering the yellow and white in the sky. The yellow is freshly layered and so is the darker black/blue. Once those dry I’ll figure out how to do the next step.

Thanks for joining me on this journey of discovery!