These mixed media pieces are part of a new series I’m calling “Prayers” Each piece is a prayer expressed in visual form. ❤ The repeating patterns are symbolic of a spiritual language/dialogue. Just as braille forms shapes and patterns to communicate, I too am feeling my way with brush and pen to speak.
Each mixed media painting in this series is created on 4″ x 5″ watercolor paper that is handmade in Montreal and then mounted on 6″ x 8″ black mat board ready to frame. Each piece is $20
Please contact me if you’d like to purchase any of the pieces below. This is an open series so more will be added on a regular basis.
I’m excited to be participating in the Night of Artists this year and part of the perks of joining in this fabulous event is their NOA magazine cover competition.
This year there are 49 wonderful artists participating in the competition.
I decided to submit “New Song” as my entry this year as I thought it embodied the NOA festival being both an instrument and an art piece. The competition is popularity based and the top 5 most liked artists will move on to the finals for a chance to grace the cover.
The votes are open to the public so if you’d be so kind to cast your vote for me and any others that catch your eye just click on the guitar image below and follow the link to the official page, press like on my guitar and then voila done. Voting ends on January 31st at 9pm Alberta time.
NOA magazine cover contest entry by Amanda Milke “New Song”
I love creating art around a theme or concept and for 2019 that theme is “Immersion”.
I’ve been inspired by how prominent water is used as a symbol in the bible from the sea of Galilee to the many miracles that center around it and I wanted to create a body of art that encompasses that wet and wild imagery.
So, throughout 2019 my media feeds will be flooded with many water based paintings which hopefully will culminate into “Immersion” a gallery exhibit that will immerse you the viewer into this wet, wonderful world.
For now, here is a look at some past and present and in progress pieces to immerse your senses in.
So sometimes paintings just seem to happen. I’m going about my business and then a canvas kind of screams at me and the next thing I know I have a new painting on the go. That’s exactly what happened with this painting. I wanted to do a lamb piece to go with my series of Biblical inspired animals but I hadn’t planned this lol.
I sat down one morning and it just flowed out of me by the time lunch had come the layout was complete and that’s the way this painting kept evolving. Every time I sat down it was a whirlwind of creation and the next step would be complete. It’s crazy how God can use my talents for his purpose. I thought all along that this would be an Easter piece and I thought for the longest time I would call it “the Passover lamb” but the more I painted and embellished and layered and texturized the more it seemed like it was a celebratory piece. Not a pre-cross sacrificial painting but a joyful conquered death let’s party type of painting and so what’s more jubilant than a wedding.
So here the lamb is clean and radiant. The flowers are in bloom, he is crowned and gleaming wearing his bridegroom clothes of covered in song and ready for the church his bride. The work has been done and now it’s time to celebrate.
Each sets of words woven into the lambs wool is a hymn title, I emphasized the trinity by crowning in in triplicate “holy”s on his forehead.
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He is clean and pure adorned in gold and sparkling rhinestones that flash and glimmer in the light and he seems to radiate and glow.
The birds who fly and adorn him with music singing are gold and jeweled but pale in comparison to the light surrounding him.
New life grows up from his feet and even the earth is growing with hymns embedded in it. I did a double emphasis on “art” along the bottom of the piece because I do believe God enjoys art and to be praised through it as I’ve spoke on in previous posts.
And finally the lambs position of facing straight out at the viewer was intentional because Biblically we as Christians make up the body of the Church, and the Church is the Bride of Christ so here the Bridegroom, Christ is looking at us the Church on his Wedding day as through him we are made pure and holy and most assuredly ready to celebrate.
I used a large variety of materials to create this painting including genuine peridot stone chips, rhinestone crystals, gold leaf, paper clay, modeling paste, acrylic, oil paint sticks, beads and old choir music / hymns.
I’d love to hear what you think of this painting or any of my other works. You can comment below or email me and I’ll be happy to respond.
Amanda Milke 