Grace

Light in the Forest (Stacy Wills, 2013)

alcohol inks on yupo, 5" x 4"

Light in the Forest came about the way many of my paintings do...by accident...albeit a happy one.  As an artist who is largely self-taught, I learn best by playing.    This past Sunday afternoon I had set aside some  creative "play time"  with my newest obsession, alcohol inks.  (I was introduced to inks this past year by the amazingly gifted artist, June Rollins.)   Working with inks is so very different than other mediums I'm accustomed to using...for one thing, they are very unpredictable!  They're also very fluid, as you might imagine, and when used on a non-porous surface such as yupo, you're never quite sure what's going to happen, but that's part of the fun!    Since the ink dries  quickly, I usually have a few small paintings going  at once, keeping a scrap piece of yupo  handy for the "run-off" that occurs sometimes.  In this case, however, the "scrap" looked pretty interesting to me at the end of the day.  I actually liked it better than some of the "on purpose" paintings.   As I was reflecting on it later, I was reminded of the song, Grace, by U2...in particular the line, "Grace finds beauty in everything."  One of my passions in this life is to share Beauty...in whatever way I can...as often as I can...and today, it comes in the form of a small scrap...meant for the trashcan...but Grace had another idea.