At a recent trip to the SDMA I was struck by a thematic thread running through the different galleries. Beautiful spiritual images of painterly devotion were especially plentiful in the early Renaissance. This little beauty from 1442 is call “Saint Catherine of Siena.” Historically Saint Catherine was a mystic and a writer. Her inspired letters, poems and writings defending the papacy earned her the name “doctor of the church.” She is only one of four women to be given this title. It’s pretty impressive considering the time and the attitude towards women in the 15th century.

But let’s face it – I was first drawn to the simplicity of gesture and the glorious gold background that the artist painted. There is such a contrast from the black robe to the delicate white lily she is holding. But I can sense the painterly devotion the artist expressed in his mastery of gesture, color and delicacy of painting.

These early religious paintings are inspirational to me in my own work. My painting above, “She is Serenity,” shows a lovely woman in a robe of green plants enclosed by a golden circle. “She is Serenity” is part of a series of paintings about a subject that is often in my thoughts; the divine feminine. I try to imagine what Heavenly Mother would be like and I have chosen to depict her in different ways in my paintings. Since She is mother to us all I’ve chosen to paint her as black and asian as well as white. In these paintings I was drawn to the simplicity of shape and the contrasting energy of pattern found in Saint Catherine”s halo. I also feel devotion and a spiritual connection to heaven as I paint these images.