I believe in the power of prayer. It’s part of my daily life, mostly silent and sometimes out loud. I pray aloud in small church groups, and I’m comfortable praying with other people. It’s been part of my life since I was a small child.

Forty Days of Worship and Prayer

My church has an annual season dedicated to worship and prayer. We spend forty days fasting, each of us making our own choices, and we end with a large gathering focused on praying together, usually in groups of three or four. We see people healed from physical illness or injury and freed from addiction and mental illness. They are true, modern-day miracles.

For several years now I’ve been invited to create artworks as part of this season. Every time, it’s a powerful and humbling experience to carry the cares and concerns of so many others in an artwork.

*The blank canvas at the start of the process.*

Starting With a Blank Canvas

I begin at the kick-off event with a blank canvas and invite people to write down their prayers. I collage them onto the canvas as the first layer of the artwork. I never manage to get them all adhered that first evening, so I take everything home and finish.

Then I bring the in-process piece back to church, where others can see it and pray over all the written prayers. People have told me how moving it is to have their prayers included, and to pray for others this way.

Layers Upon Layers

As the forty days end, I bring the canvas home to prepare for the final event. As in my standard practice, I spread a coat of thinned gesso over the initial layer of prayers so they recede visually when the next layers go on top.

Over the forty days, I decide what the imagery will be. This year it’s plants and flowers like you’d find in a wild meadow. I prepare by printing photos and creating the transparencies that will be transferred onto the canvas.

Worship, Prayer and Healing Night

At the final event, I invite people to write their prayers again, this time on tracing paper. They can also share answered prayers on regular paper. I begin collaging this second layer of prayers and the photo transfers over it all, and I start adding paint.

Many people come up during this time to share their prayers, to point out where their prayer from the first night landed in the piece, and to thank me for being part of the process. It’s one of the most meaningful things I do with my art making.

Again, I can’t finish it in the few hours we’re gathered, so I take it home to keep working.

*The interactive prayer piece in progress in my studio right now.*

A Meadow of Answered Prayers

In this piece, the plants and flowers represent answered prayers. I’ve added many, and there will be more to come, along with more layers of color pencil, paint and wax pastel. I think there will likely be a pressed wildflower or two, which feels like the natural thing to include.

Already it’s feeling like a big, peaceful meadow, a calming place to sit and meditate.

What Comes Next

If this goes the way previous years have, it will be another month or two before the piece is complete. It will make its public debut at church after the first of the year, as part of the ongoing silent-auction-style sales of the artworks created live during our services. I can’t wait to see how it affects the people who get to enjoy it.

I’m considering hosting a small reception on a Saturday afternoon or evening when it’s ready. If you’d like to be invited, reach out and let me know.

Forty Days, Hundreds of Prayers & a Wild Meadow

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