When I was first asked to do these paintings for Covenant Church's newly decorated space, the idea came to me to paint a representational still life of a banquet table with its various cups, plates, and bowls. This type of painting would be a slight change from my usual abstract style. I was thinking of Christ’s invitation to all of us to come to the table and feast. In Psalm 23:5, Jesus “prepares a table before us in the presence of our enemies.” I think our enemies aren’t necessarily people, but the spirits of fear, selfishness, despair, etc., that we carry within ourselves. We cast off those enemies in His healing presence and the love of community by sharing a meal together.

As I began working on the ideas and sketches for the paintings, I felt a nudge to change the obvious shapes of serving bowls, platters, cups and glasses into shapes that are more abstracted and flattened. There are hints of those familiar objects in the paintings to give you an idea of my original inspiration, while the abstract nature of the art invites you to ponder your own ideas about what it means for you to sit at the banquet table of Jesus.

I experience much joy when I paint, even with the tough editing process of arranging color shapes into a composition that works. A composition simply means the overall pattern created by light, medium, and dark shapes. I always strive for an arrangement that is visually compelling. With this idea, most things in my paintings are left unsaid, or are without detail, which allows room for certain memories or images to bubble up to the surface of your mind.

With these paintings, I brought certain elements together in all three, like the colors, shapes, and lines. There is a “table” element. The edge of the table is hinted at with the similar horizontal bands of color near the top that bridge the connection between the individual paintings. Even though it’s not a literal table, I like the idea of it, as well as the freedom to view it from different perspectives. Viewing it from above, the elements on the table are flattened, which is a nod towards my admiration for Picasso’s abstract still life paintings.

Perhaps the best way to describe abstract art is to think of it like music without lyrics. We all know how listening to our favorite instrumental music can bring powerful feelings to us. Lyrics aren’t needed to convey the emotional content of the song. You can “hear” it with your soul. Abstract painting is similar in that you are enjoying the colors, lines, shapes, and textures as you slow down to observe with all of your senses.

Appreciating and viewing abstract art requires more than a moment’s glance, more than the surface conversation. It requires stillness to quiet your mind from the noise of the day so that you may be able to observe without requiring to be told the meaning of the painting. The phrase, “deep calls to deep” flows through my mind when I paint. There is a reason I paint “without words,” because these expressions are deep in my soul where God resides, and hopefully through my paintings I can communicate a little of God’s peace and beauty to you.

The 4-foot square paintings at Covenant Church are on permanent display. 

~ Heidi