Let Her in

Created for a gallery showing in Cincinnati, OH. The theme of the event was "light." I was in Omaha at the time, brainstorming about how I wished to approach the theme. There had just been a horrible storm that took out the power in most of Omaha, for some the power was out for a couple weeks. During the time my neighborhood was out I went up to the Church behind my house. Upon walking in, I was amazed how bright the stained glass shined with no lights on (the lights are almost always on in the Church). There was one window in particular that caught my eye because it was propped open. It was then that I knew what I would create for the show.

While working on the painting, I struggled to truly capture how bright and beautiful that window and that experience was. I experimented with sewing a few glass seed beads onto the painted window - this is where it all clicked for me. I spent over 100 hours hand sewing beads onto the canvas and grew more in love with each finger prick and neck cramp. I finished just in time for the event and I was so proud to see it sparkle on display.