JEANELLE McCALL

What to do with leftover paint? Left over paint is usually placed, smeared and brushed onto my next canvas as an undercoat for my next painting. This layer is the most freeing of all, hidden under the finale painting. But it is a suggestion of where the painting might lead. Next day I was ready to paint. I began with cool colors layering over the warm colors. An image of an old home place began to emerge. I remember driving by this place many time, and regretfully I never took the time to paint it. So all that was left was a vague memory of a place and time I loved. After it had a chance to dry a little, I added a few details on the barn. I believe it is finished or maybe not!

I begin my mornings outside, first just looking and observing what is going on around me, which birds could I hear, what new buds were breaking through,which way was the breeze flowing from. Then sitting in a special place in my garden, I say a prayer of thankfulness. With that, I go to my studio and begin the process.. painting the Stations of the Cross. This past February 12th, a friend told me about a church in Webster, Texas (where a lot of the astronauts attend) announced a “call to artist”. On Good Friday they will have a virtual exhibit featuring artists work that represents The Stations of the Cross. To provide a version of this devotion more closely aligned with the biblical accounts, Pope John Paul II introduced a new form of devotion, called the Scriptural Way of the Cross, on Good Friday 1991 that is more closely aligned with the biblical accounts. This is the version I chose to paint. One painting wasn’t enough for me. I was driven to complete all fourteen and hopefully in...

 I  was challenged to cr eate a piece to hang in the sanctuary  illuminating Jam es 5:15.   I made a few practice samples to see  if my idea would work. Excited about the solution, I began with a full size sketch, then drew it onto fabric and began slow free motion  stitching over my drawing.  Three layers, fabric and batting, gave a  wonderful dimensional look.  Then I started the painting, slowly and  carefully.  When completed, I backed it in silk. I am thrilled the  combination of stitching and painting worked out as I had hoped!