Word on the Street Issue 18, January 2022
Silhouette Under the Stars
Viola loves to craft. Since coming to Interfaith Santuary, she has taken up beading, painting, and collaging. “Making art calms my mind and realeases a lot of stress and anxiety,” she said. “It gets me into a really positive headspace.”
“This painting took me an hour and a half. It’s acrylic. I’m very proud of it – it’s my practice piece. I’m going to do another one that I hope will turn out amazing. My oldest daughter wants this one and it will go to her.”
Day of the Dead
“I love the texture in this one. I did my own paper mâché. These translucent pieces were cut from napkins and the other pieces are more solid,” Viola said. “We were all sitting around talking and I started gathering pieces here and there and I just went with it. It look at this (big skull) as a guide for the spirits that come through the veil.”
Jade the Dog
Karl has set up a studio in a room on Interfaith Sanctuary’s program side. He enjoys the quiet that allows him to focus but likes to show others technique and talk about the work. He has been slowly expanding the shelter’s art collective and paints/draws detailed portraits from photographs and memory.
“This is a dog I’m painting for Alexys. The dog’s name is Jade – I’m going to put him in his little egg basket there, his bed. I’m going to work on the wood floor, the rugs,” Karl said. “I had to rework stuff. There’s enough likeness to her actual living room but I’m taking artistic license. I reoriented the wood slats coming vertical to give it that one point perspective, linear, flowing with the portrait style.
“I’m going to put a planter in here, then the blanket chest will sit in the back to capture the mood of their living room. Then, I’ll give it some color. The foliage, the back wall, and the multicolor tennis balls are next.”
