About 'Living Flame' Painting

This painting was partly inspired by an endless source of fascination for me - the Orion Nebula.

I did a sketch of the heart shape with different colours, threads and light sources emanating from them, using pastel pencils.

I was envisaging a huge energy source, somewhere that human beings can go to in the depths of themselves yet which is also not of this world.

I enjoy creating things that suggest that there is always more to discover; more layers beyond what we already see; something  infinite and endlessly powerful.

Painting like this is an intuitive practice. I practise "listening" to where the intricate threads should go, what shapes to make and what colours to use and when to blend them into a different colour.

I have tried to capture the effect of moving, rippling and glowing in this painting. I was inspired by a song lyric I heard "Living Flame of Love" and mused over the possibility that all that we see was brought into being by a love-filled deity..... ever-growing, ever-burning, ever-passionate and mysterious. As difficult to discern and explain as the pathways of the wind... something that invites us to explore and ponder.

Another song I was listening to a lot during the creation of this painting was "Come near, oh Burning One" by Misty Edwards.

For the first time ever in an oil painting, I have included some 24 karat gold leaf in the middle of the swirling flame, which is not only a beautiful gold colour of course, but it also reflects different colours. It changes depending on which direction you look at it....a bit like when we regard viewpoints on spiritual/religious things.

Like all my space scene paintings, this is a visual manifestation of depth and wildness.

Recently I read in a book about someone being "hit with the full force of his intelligence" which I found exciting and awe-inspiring - and that thought may have made its way into this work.

The sister piece to "Living Flame" is called "Gateway" and will be revealed in the coming months.