"Let Your Prayer Rise Up"
from Hear My Voice: A Prison Prayerbook
12 x 12" Acrylic on Gessobord with 3/4" Birch Sides
Ready to hang.
When I did these illustrations for the Hear My Voice prayer book, I leaned into the abstract, which is what I normally do. Sometimes abstract art can speak more truthfully to people, according to what their story is. This book was created for those who are incarcerated, who have lost hope, who are searching. As I painted this one, I suggested prison bars, darkness and the hope that is out in front of us and in us. This warm yellow light amidst the cool blues, violets and greens leaps out. I started to think, what are my prisons? What are those things that drive me that aren't necessarily life-giving? We all have them, I would wager, but sometimes it is hard to look at them truthfully. For me right now, my prison is my weight. My body is confused right now after my lumpectomy, radiation and now, an anti-estrogen pill for five years. I comfort myself with food, which isn't evil in itself, but it is the type of food I choose that isn't always helpful. The prison I struggle with is letting my self-image weigh me down, pun not intended. It does become a prison (not to belittle the actual hell people experience in prison) and so I look at that yellow and pray that I will have the courage to find comfort in feeding my body in a healthy way. I pray that this prison will be lifted from me and I pray that whatever your prison is, that it too, will be lifted from you. Keep your eyes on the Light, there is hope in the darkness.
"Let Your Prayer Rise Up" is part of "Hear My Voice: A Prison Prayer Book" which will launch in August at the ELCA's Churchwide Gathering. Here's a link: ://go.augsburgfortress.org/hear-my-voice-a-prison-prayer-book. The prayers are written by those who work with the incarcerated, have been incarcerated, and others. They are beautiful prayers that translate to our own prisons. Interspersed are 15 of my paintings. These books are now available!
* This painting is available for purchase at $250. Email me at RobynSandAnderson@gmail.com if interested. I will be posting more.
"Let Your Prayer Rise Up" is part of "Hear My Voice: A Prison Prayer Book" which will launch in August at the ELCA's Churchwide Gathering. Here's a link: ://go.augsburgfortress.org/hear-my-voice-a-prison-prayer-book. The prayers are written by those who work with the incarcerated, have been incarcerated, and others. They are beautiful prayers that translate to our own prisons. Interspersed are 15 of my paintings. These books are now available!
* This painting is available for purchase at $250. Email me at RobynSandAnderson@gmail.com if interested. I will be posting more.