Hello friends! This month we are taking a peek into my art as a university student. The art I am going to share this month won’t exactly be paintings, but I promise it will be interesting!

For my undergraduate degree, I studied Theatre Set Design at York University (Toronto). I had become interested in theatre production while I was in high school and thought it would be fun to major in it for university. [Please excuse the quality of the photos in this post. These were from the early 2000s and they’re the best ones I have!]

At York, all the first year theatre students studied the same courses and it wasn’t until second year that students could specialize in a stream. I remember having to take a semester of acting along with all the actually aspiring actors and actresses and doing an exercise where we had to move like the colour blue (I’m serious!). I thought I wanted to be a lighting designer when I had applied to York, but over the course of that first year, I realized I connected better with the set design professors, so I decided to major in set design instead.

My set design class had 8 women. We shared a studio room in the theatre building and spent many a late night/early morning working on our projects in there. Each year, the department would mount three shows, which meant that out of the graduating class, three set designers would get the chance to be part of an actual production.

In my fourth year, I was chosen to design one of the shows. It was called Shakuntala and based on an ancient Sanskrit tale, and the director was a post-grad student who was of Indian background himself. Three days before the design was due, I was called into a meeting with the director. He had had an epiphany and wanted the overall aesthetic to look like ivory carvings. Re-designing the project on such a short timeline was one of the most harrowing parts of my studies! The set turned out to be quite stunning and visually striking though.

When the show was over, one of the woodshop teachers offered to bring one of the archways from the set to my home for me to keep. Thankfully, my parents’ house was large enough for it! The school would keep another archway and I think the rest of it went to the dump, unfortunately. I was pretty thrilled that the theatre department went on to use photos of “my” show on their website and publications for a number of years.

Aside from my thesis project, during my fourth year, the university hired me and one of my classmates to create a maquette (scale model) of a tent they were hoping to use for an upcoming convocation ceremony. My friend (who went on to become an award-winning set and costume designer) and I spent hours upon late night hours cutting out a thousand tiny paper heads to fill up the rows. It was a memorable project and one of the bonding experiences in our friendship.

After I graduated from York, I ended up shifting my focus to missionary work for a number of years and I never went back to doing theatre. The hours would have been too long and unpredictable for me to sustain anyway. But I still love attending shows and I don’t think I will ever tire of the magic of live theatre.

Questions for reflection, if you want to go deeper: Live theatre is an experience of being in the moment. Once the performance is over, it is never repeated again. The same can be said of our lives. Holding that perspective, what would you want to keep in our life? What would you want to change?

If you enjoyed this post and want to read a monthly art story, remember to sign up so future posts get delivered to your email! I usually post them the second Friday of each month. (Add me to your contacts list or you might need to check your promotions or junk folders if you don’t see the email.)

As always, I love to hear from you! If something in this story resonated with you, if you’re interested in commissioning a painting, or if you have other thoughts, feel free to email, or connect with me on Facebook or Instagram. Thanks for being part of my journey and for letting me be a part of yours!

The post Every Painting Has a Story: April 2024 – My University Years appeared first on Olive Chan Art.

Hello friends, are you wondering where the first two months of the year went? Me too. March is a special month for me because it is my dad’s birth-month and also the month of his passing. So in honour of him, I’m going to share about his influence on me as an artist. I hope you enjoy these stories! (Note: if you have a fear of frogs, you might want to skip this post.)

Last month I shared about a cubist-style frog piece that I had created for my dad’s birthday when I was in high school. Those of you who knew my dad would know that he had a thing for frogs. For him, frog was an acronym for Fully Rely On God. And seeing frogs would remind him that he could rely on God.

One day when I was home from university, he told me he needed to repaint the garage doors. For many years, those doors had been white with red trim to match the red brick on our house. But this time, he didn’t want to do the red trim. “Olive,” he said to me over dinner, “why don’t you paint something on them?” I looked back at him across the table “…Paint what? Frogs?”

So that’s what we did. He repainted the doors white and I set to work painting a set of three frogs. One for each member of our family. It felt bold and rebellious to paint something so eye-catching in an otherwise serious neighbourhood. But people loved them. And whenever we had to give directions to our house, we could say, “Just look for the frogs on the garage doors!”

After the garage door frogs, I decided to have some more fun inside the house. One afternoon when a huge storm had knocked out the electricity, I had nowhere to go so I painted a little frog peeking out from one of the closet doors in our front entryway. Later, I painted one that looked like it was going through the other closet door, with the little bum on the outside and the head on the inside. And then I painted one last one on the front door looking like it was peeking out the peephole (which my dad had upgraded to a screen-like viewer).

Fast forward seven years, the original garage door frogs were all faded and the paint was peeling. I was engaged to Tim and planning to move across the country. My dad said it was time to repaint the garage doors again and I said I would paint a new set of frogs before I left; 4 of them this time to reflect our growing family.

You wouldn’t believe how many people stopped their cars to reprimand my dad as he put a fresh coat of black paint over the old frogs! We didn’t realize just how beloved those frogs had become in our community. He had to reassure them that new frogs would be going up and not to worry.

Eventually, my parents downsized and sold that house. A quick check on Google maps shows that the frogs were still there in 2011 but by 2014, they were painted over. People still talk to me about those frogs every so often.

Most Asian parents hesitate to encourage their kids in the arts but my dad invited me to display my work in the most visible way possible. (My mom was also supportive, of course, but she gets her own spotlight later this year.) Now that I’m an artist, I look back at 20-year-old me and think, “You lucky girl, to have parents like that.”

This month marks 5 years since my dad’s death. Although he never got to see my art career, I know he is proud of me. Thanks for your legacy, Dad.

PS. If you didn’t get a chance to meet my dad and are curious to know more about him, here’s a piece about his life that I wrote as a eulogy for his celebration of life: In Memory of Ben Lam.

Questions for reflection, if you want to go deeper: It takes a certain boldness to ask your child to paint frogs on your garage doors. In what area(s) of your life do you feel you are living boldly? In what area(s) of your life would you like to live more boldly?

If you enjoyed this post and want to read a monthly art story, remember to sign up so future posts get delivered to your email! I usually post them the second Friday of each month. (Add me to your contacts list or you might need to check your promotions or junk folders if you don’t see the email.)

As always, I love to hear from you! If something in this story resonated with you, if you’re interested in commissioning a painting, or if you have other thoughts, feel free to email, or connect with me on Facebook or Instagram. Thanks for being part of my journey and for letting me be a part of yours!

The post Every Painting Has a Story: March 2024 – The Time My Dad Got Me to Paint Frogs on the Garage Doors appeared first on Olive Chan Art.

Welcome to February, my friends! This month I will be taking you on a brief tour of my high school art, which I consider to be my most formative years. In today’s post, I will intersperse examples of my work from those years with narrative. I hope you enjoy seeing the pieces that gave me my art foundation!

To start us off, let me give you a little context about my high school. I attended Unionville High School (UHS) in Markham, Ontario. At the time, that school was the only public school with a specialized Fine Arts program in York Region. Called Arts York (now Arts Unionville), each year they accepted a limited number of students for entrance into Grade 9. You had to apply and audition for your discipline of choice (Visual Arts, Dance, Music, or Drama). Aside from the Arts York program, they had the regular education stream for students who lived in the immediate area. Arts York students would take specialized courses in their disciplines in addition to standard courses, which they would take with the rest of the student population.

When I was in Grade 8 and thinking about which high school to attend, I knew I could go to my local high school but I wanted to try for UHS both because I liked the arts focus and because UHS had a better reputation academically. I ended up auditioning for both Dance and Visual Arts. At that point, I had been learning ballet for 11 years and was taking exams that would allow me to pursue teaching if I wanted to, so I was pretty confident I would get in for Dance.

Visual Arts had always intrigued me and growing up, I was envious of my friends who got to take art lessons. Still, I didn’t know if I had the skills to get me into the program. My Grade 8 art teacher was really supportive when I told her I wanted to apply for Arts York and she helped me prepare the portfolio for my audition. I remember having to bring a self-portrait and a sculpture to the interview, among other required examples of work. I also remember feeling embarrassed at the interview because I had tried to carve a squirrel out of plaster but had only managed to finish half of it.

At the audition, they had us take a group art class and do several exercises, including sketching a shiny ribbon that had been stapled in various places to a board. Then they interviewed each applicant individually. It was a serious and involved process and I will forever be grateful they accepted me into the program!

Over the course of the next four years, I learned so much. I got to try things like printmaking, silkscreen, acrylic painting, sculpture, and textiles. I was taught art history and learned about various styles and techniques like Impressionism, Cubism, and pointillism. I also got the opportunity to do life drawing of real live models (something really rare for teenagers to get to do as we actually observed nude figures.)

In Grade 10, I did my first acrylic painting and learned about colour mixing, as well as how to build, stretch, and prepare a canvas. We would design the concept for our paintings, execute them, and then critique them to see how they could be improved. Do you see what I mean now when I say Arts York gave me my foundation?

Every semester for four years, I had an art class. My teachers not only taught us art skills but built our confidence. Our art would be regularly displayed in the foyer of our school so everyone could see our creations. The first person who ever offered to buy my work was a teacher at our school. It was a cubist style piece featuring frogs that I had created as a birthday gift for my dad so I couldn’t sell the original to the teacher, but I did end up creating a print of it and selling that to her. (That piece still hangs in my mom’s place.)

When I turned 40, I made a list of people who had had significant impact on my life and sent them a painting and a thank you letter. My main art teacher from UHS was one of them. I owe a lot of my skills to her! (Thanks Mrs. Chelin, for encouraging me then and still encouraging me now!)

High school was a time of flourishing for me. I would have some wilderness years throughout my 20s and 30s but my teenage years were definitely a key part of developing the artist in me.

Question for reflection, if you want to go deeper: When you think about the teachers who have invested in you (in school or just people who have taught you things), who comes to mind? If you’re able to contact them, consider reaching out to say thank you.

If you enjoyed this post and want to read a monthly art story, remember to sign up so future posts get delivered to your email! I usually post them the second Friday of each month. (Add me to your contacts list or you might need to check your promotions or junk folders if you don’t see the email.)

As always, I love to hear from you! If something in this story resonated with you, if you’re interested in commissioning a painting, or if you have other thoughts, feel free to email, or connect with me on Facebook or Instagram. Thanks for being part of my journey and for letting me be a part of yours!

The post Every Painting Has a Story: February 2024 – My High School Art appeared first on Olive Chan Art.

Hello friends, welcome to the first blog post of 2024! In previous years, I shared backstories to paintings featured in my calendars but this year will be a little different. Throughout 2024, I will be featuring some of my past work that will never make it into calendars and maybe not even onto social media. (Gasp!) Consider it a backstage pass to my artist life. I hope you enjoy what I have in store!

When I was planning the blog topics for this year, I thought why not start from the beginning? My mom had kept a folder with some of my earlier work so I have a few examples I can share. When I look back at my early art, I wouldn’t suspect that I would become an artist later. But I do recall always enjoying drawing and painting ever since I was young.

The earliest drawing I have is this crayon drawing. My mom noted who the people in the picture were. I have included my cousin (who was a young adult living with us at the time), my dad, my mom, and me, all wearing what appear to be party hats. In the top left corner I have included a yellow sun with radiating rays, some blue to indicate the sky at the very top of the page, and five rather large birds. On the ground is a flower and we are standing next to a yellow house. I’m guessing I drew this when I was around 5 years old.

I also have this photo of me standing proudly pointing at a painting on display. Judging by my buck teeth and pigtails, I would say I was around 6 years old here. I can’t tell what my painting is about but there are quite a lot of details. I also know that rainbows were a recurring theme in my art around that time.

These next two paintings were from Grade One (6 years old) and they also feature rainbows. It’s interesting to see how some 35+ years later, I’m still painting rainbows! Grade One was also when I got my earliest positive response and affirmation of artistic talent. Unbeknownst to me, my teacher had submitted one of my drawings to a contest for the Ontario Dental Association and it had been chosen as a cover for one of their brochures. I used to have a copy of that brochure but it has since been lost. Along with my drawing being chosen as cover art, I received a prize of $500 – which in 1987 was a big deal! (I think my parents donated the money back to the school.)

By Grade 5, I can start to see a more refined sense of aesthetics come out in my work, as this tulip painting shows. I have a couple workbooks from that year and in my drawings I started to include elements of shading.

By Grade 7, I definitely knew that I enjoyed art. This is one remaining drawing I have from that year – a fantastical monster that is both silly and colourful. I had the same art teacher for Grades 7 and 8 and when I told her I wanted to audition for a fine arts high school, she spent extra time at lunch and after school to help me prepare for that. (Thanks, Mrs. Shadrach!) She had no idea that getting into that school would pave the way for my future career.

There you have it. How my art journey started.

I don’t have any reflection questions this month but if any of my art from childhood connects with you, feel free to spend some time with it. Also, I would love to hear what you might see in my earliest work. Thanks for reading along. I look forward to sharing some of my high school work with you next month!

If you enjoyed this post and want to read a monthly art story, remember to sign up so future posts get delivered to your email! I usually post them the second Friday of each month. (Add me to your contacts list or you might need to check your promotions or junk folders if you don’t see the email.)

As always, I love to hear from you! If something in this story resonated with you, if you’re interested in commissioning a painting, or if you have other thoughts, feel free to email, or connect with me on Facebook or Instagram. Thanks for being part of my journey and for letting me be a part of yours!

The post Every Painting Has a Story: January 2024 – My Childhood Art appeared first on Olive Chan Art.

Friends, we have made it to December. I suspect that as you look back over this year, you can recall both gains and losses. What I hope is that through it all, you have felt carried by love. This month’s painting is about that love and I’m looking forward to sharing its story with you.

In 2021, I was asked to create a painting as a gift for a couple who lived in Shanghai. My client wanted a piece that communicated the scripture verse that says, “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is [God’s] love for those who fear him” (Psalm 103:11).

I had been introduced to Canadian photographer Tony Wong’s work shortly beforehand and I knew that I wanted to try to paint one of his night sky photographs. I contacted him to ask for permission to reference his work and he graciously welcomed me to it. (If you’re on Facebook, go take a look at his account, Tony Wong Photography. It is stunning.)

It was my first time painting a night sky and took me quite some time. I wish you could see the original painting in person because there are many shifts in colours and layers that can’t be fully captured by a photo.

Since Shanghai was a city dear to the recipients’ hearts, we chose to feature their city skyline in the foreground. To see Shanghai set against the Milky Way galaxy in real life would be extremely unlikely since the city is always lit up, but the magic of painting is that unlikely views like this can become real.

I finished this painting in July 2021 and sent it off to Asia. Due to cities being intermittently shut down coming out of the pandemic, this painting didn’t arrive to its destination until September 2022. As the artist, waiting for the recipients to actually get their painting was nerve wracking! Thankfully, the painting arrived safely and from what I heard, the daughter claimed it for her room the moment she saw it.

I titled this piece, “Infinite Love,” because I believe that our universe is made and held together by Love. And this Love cannot be quantified or measured. When I look at images of the stars, I am brought to a place of awe and moved that the same Love that is so big also includes me in it. I hope this sense of belovedness is what the recipients of this painting feel.

“Infinite Love” was chosen for the month of December because Christmas happens this month and Christmas is a celebration of Divine Love in our world. The dark sky also echoes what winter feels like here in Vancouver where I live.

For those with the Scripture calendar

It was natural to pair the painting this month with Psalm 103:11 since that verse was what this piece was based on. It’s humbling and astounding to think that God loves us so so so very much.

Questions for reflection, if you want to go deeper: Take some time to gaze at the galaxy in the painting and notice what emotions or thoughts rise up. What comes to your heart as you consider the God of this universe is also the one who created you?

Special Note

If you’ve been following my work, you will know that this is the last month of calendar art as I don’t have a calendar for 2024. I will continue to be sending a monthly email with an art story of either some of my Tiny Expanses pieces, my older work (ever curious about what my work looked like as a kid?), or some “backstage” looks into my art practice. I am planning on putting out a calendar again for 2025 so stick with me! Newsletter subscribers will be the first to know when those are released. Thanks for reading along and journeying with me!

If you enjoyed this post and want to read a monthly art story, remember to sign up so future posts get delivered to your email! I usually post them the second Friday of each month. (Add me to your contacts list or you might need to check your promotions or junk folders if you don’t see the email.)

As always, I love to hear from you! If something in this story resonated with you, if you’re interested in commissioning a painting, or if you have other thoughts, feel free to email, or connect with me on Facebook or Instagram. Thanks for being part of my journey and for letting me be a part of yours!

The post Every Painting Has a Story: December 2023 – “Infinite Love” appeared first on Olive Chan Art.

Rainy season has begun here in Vancouver and this month’s painting is about water. Hope you enjoy the story behind “Planted by the Water”!

A little bit of history: Before I started my art business, my father-in-law was already commissioning artwork from me. Being a well-connected individual, he knew many people he wanted to encourage and he thought my art would make a great gift. For the first three years of Olive Chan Art, he commissioned paintings from me to gift to good friends and supporters of his non-profit work. This piece was one of those gifts. For each of the paintings, I would have several conversations with him to find out more about the recipients and brainstorm what type of image would be most meaningful to them.

The friends who were to receive this painting had a special connection with Nigeria so I chose an image from that country. I found a beautiful reference photo by Irantiola, Olugbenga (@guzeartworld_photography) on Instagram and contacted him to ask if I could use it. Thankfully he replied yes. The image is of Lake Iseyin in Ado Awaye, which is nestled among mountain rocks. It is one of only two suspended lakes in the world (the other one is in Colorado) and people hike an hour up the mountain to go see it.

According to the photographer, this lake always retains the same water levels regardless of how much rain there has been. I love how this tree has flourished because it is right by the water.

I titled this painting, “Planted by the Water,” in reference to Psalm 1 that describes a flourishing that comes from being deeply rooted in God. My prayer for the recipients was that this painting would remind them of the Love that is the source of life.

For those with the Scripture calendar

The painting this month is paired with Ephesians 3:17-18 which says, “I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power… to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.” Although the roots of the tree are not visible, the result of having deeply watered roots is evident. I hope this can be a visual reminder to us of our own roots in Christ’s love and that we can experience flourishing as well.

Questions for reflection, if you want to go deeper: Take a moment to imagine the roots of your soul sinking into the love of God, what does it look like beneath the surface? Now reflect on your “branches” and “leaves” – are you looking and feeling hydrated and nourished? If so, take a moment of gratitude. If not, is there something that needs to change?

If you enjoyed this post and want to read a monthly art story, remember to sign up so future posts get delivered to your email! I usually post them the second Friday of each month. (Add me to your contacts list or you might need to check your promotions or junk folders if you don’t see the email.)

As always, I love to hear from you! If something in this story resonated with you, if you’re interested in commissioning a painting, or if you have other thoughts, feel free to email, or connect with me on Facebook or Instagram. Thanks for being part of my journey and for letting me be a part of yours!

The post Every Painting Has a Story: November 2023 – “Planted by the Water” appeared first on Olive Chan Art.

It’s October! I hope you are keeping well as we enter this final quarter of the year. Around this time of year two years ago, I was working on the two paintings featured in the calendar this month. Here’s the story behind them. I hope you enjoy it!

Back in May 2021 when we were all gingerly coming out of pandemic isolation, my dear friend Heather asked me if I could create two pieces for her daughters as Christmas gifts. Every summer, her girls would attend camp on Thetis Island and they had many fond memories of that place. Heather thought they would like to each have a painting to remind them of those memories year-round.

After some discussion, we settled on two 8″x10″ deep canvases and Heather sent me about 10 photos to choose from. We chose two images that looked good on their own and together as a pair.

A unique part of this commission was that the titles for the pieces were provided by my client. “Cool Waters Beckon Me” was a phrase from a song written about the camp and also the title of a book written on the camp’s 50th anniversary. And “Abide With Me” was the title of a hymn that they sang every evening at camp. The titles both ended up suiting the paintings very well.

It was really fun to scheme with Heather about these gifts and to wait with her for Christmas. Since I know their whole family, I was also looking forward to hearing what her daughters’ reactions to their gifts would be. When I first showed these paintings to Heather, she said, “Wow! I love it! You captured the beauty of the island… I might have trouble giving these away!” Luckily for her girls, they did get them for Christmas and they loved them too.

Creating art gifts for people gives me a lot of joy and I’m so grateful that Heather entrusted me with this project. I hope it always reminds her daughters of both their good memories and experiences of God on Thetis Island and of their mom’s thoughtfulness and love for them.

I chose this pair of paintings for the month of October because the orange hues reminded me of fall. Also because I painted them around this time of the year, I’ve probably subconsciously linked these paintings to October. I hope it brings a sense of calm and restfulness to you, whatever you may be facing this month.

For those with the Scripture calendar

This month, I paired these paintings with the verse from Psalm 37:4 which says, “Delight yourself in the Lord.” Both the paintings and the titles for these paintings are invitations for us to pause and delight in God’s creation and presence. I hope you sense these invitations and that you find moments of delight even in the midst of the heaviness in our world.

Questions for reflection, if you want to go deeper: Which of these two pieces are you drawn to more? What about the piece speaks to you? In what ways can you lean into delight today?

If you enjoyed this post and want to read a monthly art story, remember to sign up so future posts get delivered to your email! I usually post them the second Friday of each month. (Add me to your contacts list or you might need to check your promotions or junk folders if you don’t see the email.)

As always, I love to hear from you! If something in this story resonated with you, if you’re interested in commissioning a painting, or if you have other thoughts, feel free to email, or connect with me on Facebook or Instagram. Thanks for being part of my journey and for letting me be a part of yours!

The post Every Painting Has a Story: October 2023 – “Cool Waters Beckon Me” and “Abide With Me” appeared first on Olive Chan Art.

Hello friends, as I write this, the first leaves are falling from our neighbour’s walnut tree, temperatures are cooling and the kids are back to school. Welcome to September. Pour yourself a cup of something yummy and join me in this month’s story!

“Still Waters” was created to be part of the Healing Gardens Exhibit in the spring of 2022. One of my friends had invited me to participate in it and I was excited for my first group show. My friend also happened to send me some beautiful photos so I decided to paint one of her photos for the show.

I had a 12″x12″ canvas on hand because the year before, I had applied to an online exhibit featuring square foot sized paintings. I wasn’t accepted into that show so I had this canvas to use.

This painting became one of my favourites from the year. I had done a bright magenta underpainting and I loved that you can see hints of it peaking through in the sky.

During the show, another friend of mine saw the piece and told me he loved it but was saving up for an engagement ring at the time. I felt like this painting should go to him and his soon-to-be fiancée so we decided that if it was still available after the show, we would chat about it. It didn’t sell during the show so we made an arrangement so that he could purchase the painting and part of it would be my gift to the couple. They recently had their wedding and my heart smiles when I think of this piece blessing their home.

I titled this painting, ” Still Waters” because the water, sky, and clouds in this image invite me to a place of calm – to still my anxious heart and take a deep breath.

I chose this piece for the month of September because in my life, September is usually a busy month with the kids returning to school and regular programming starting up again. I wanted a piece that would remind me of quiet spaces and invite me to be still. I hope this painting invites you to take some moments of calm throughout your days this month as well.

For those with the Scripture calendar

The artwork this month is paired with Psalm 23:2 which gives us the familiar words, “He leads me beside quiet waters.” As we transition out of summer and into the fullness of fall, I hope the words of this psalm, along with the image of these still waters offer you the space to breathe. May you find moments to reflect and rest in the midst of your work and responsibilities.

Questions for reflection, if you want to go deeper: Notice the reflection of the sky indicating the water’s stillness. Now notice the ripples indicating life and movement. Both are necessary parts of the water. The same is true of our lives. We need stillness and opportunities for reflection but we also need movement, lest we become stagnant. In which part(s) of your life do you notice or long for stillness? In which part(s) of your life do you notice or long for movement?

If you enjoyed this post and want to read a monthly art story, remember to sign up so future posts get delivered to your email! I usually post them the second Friday of each month. (Add me to your contacts list or you might need to check your promotions or junk folders if you don’t see the email.)

As always, I love to hear from you! If something in this story resonated with you, if you’re interested in commissioning a painting, or if you have other thoughts, feel free to email, or connect with me

The post Every Painting Has a Story: September 2023 – “Still Waters” appeared first on Olive Chan Art.

Hello my friends, it’s August! Here in our little part of the planet, we are in the middle of summer and getting our fill of sunshine, sweet fruits, and, the favourite for our family: time by the ocean. This month’s painting is one that I hope communicates that summer vibe. Hope you enjoy this story!

“The Gift of Time” was commissioned by my dear friend Sue and her husband, Marc. For 7 years she had been looking for a painting to put above their bed and hadn’t found anything she really wanted. When she found out I was taking commissions, she was very excited to explore the possibility of a custom piece. And I was super honoured she would choose my work for her home!

She chose to have a painting made from a photo her husband had taken on an anniversary trip to the Sunshine Coast. She was particularly drawn to the blues of the sky and water. Being on the West Coast where we get dreary grey winters, she wanted something bright to cheer up her living space.

I titled this piece, “The Gift of Time,” to remind them both of their trip as well as the years of marriage they have traversed together. I hope it brings them joy and continually reminds them of how loved they are.

Being a summertime painting, I thought that August would be the perfect month for it. I hope it brings you a lightness of heart and a sense of ease and rest.

For those with the Scripture calendar

This month’s artwork is paired with Isaiah 58:11 which says, “The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame.” I chose this verse because the description of a “sun-scorched land” is something I associate with the heat of summer. Where we live, right now we are under water restrictions and our grass is all golden (which is a nice way of saying it all looks brown). It is in these parched conditions that God promises to strengthen us and meet our needs. My hope is that this month, you would experience God’s strengthening whatever you may be facing.

Questions for reflection, if you want to go deeper: Notice the dry, brittle grass on the ledge in the painting. What area(s) of your life feel dry like that? Notice now the lush blue of the ocean. Imagine all the aquatic life contained in it. In what area(s) of your life do you feel the cool abundance of water? How is God meeting you in both the dry and abundant areas of your life today?

If you enjoyed this post and want to read a monthly art story, remember to sign up so future posts get delivered to your email! I usually post them the second Friday of each month. (Add me to your contacts list or you might need to check your promotions or junk folders if you don’t see the email.)

As always, I love to hear from you! If something in this story resonated with you, if you’re interested in commissioning a painting, or if you have other thoughts, feel free to email, or connect with me on Facebook or Instagram. Thanks for being part of my journey and for letting me be a part of yours!

The post Every Painting Has a Story: August 2023 – “The Gift of Time” appeared first on Olive Chan Art.

Hello friends, here we are at the midpoint of 2023. The story for this month is a very special one with quite a journey. I hope you enjoy reading about it!

“Spiritus” began as a blank canvas gifted to me by my ceramic artist friend, Julia Nygra. At the time, we were preparing for our group show called Healing Gardens at PoMoArts gallery which was taking place in February 2022. She messaged me and asked if I might be interested in a 2-by-3-foot canvas that she no longer had use for. When we met up for her to give it to me, I was surprised when what she brought out of her car was a 3-by-4-foot canvas! My kids were with me at the time and they had to share the back seat with this rather large canvas on our ride home. We giggled when the tops of their heads barely peeked out from behind the canvas.

Later, I came across this stunning sunrise photograph by local photographer Kristina Brisbin and I knew I wanted to paint it. Thankfully, Kristina graciously gave me permission to reference her photo. I thought it would be neat to paint a local scene inspired by a local photographer on a canvas gifted to me by a local artist for a local art show.

At the Healing Gardens show, Spiritus got a lot of attention and according to the gallery manager, a lot of people had stood in front of it for a good long while. Several friends also sent me selfies with it, telling me they really loved this piece. I priced it at $3000, which was more than I had sold anything for at that point, and I wasn’t sure if anyone would buy it. By the end of the show, only one of my smallest paintings has sold so I decided to just enjoy this piece in my home for a while.

Fast forward to November of that year when I received a text message from my spiritual director, Marcia, asking if Spiritus was still available. I had chosen it for the cover of my 2023 calendar so I thought that maybe seeing it on my calendar piqued her interest. Turns out, she had absolutely loved the painting at my art show but at the time, they hadn’t had a place to put it in their home. Over the summer they moved, and now there was a blank space above their couch. I invited her and her husband over to see the painting in person again and standing there in my living room, they looked at each other and said, “We’ll take it!” They wanted it framed so I helped do that for them and delivered it to their home just before Christmas.

It filled my heart – and still does – to know that this piece is home with Marcia. She has journeyed with me through the highs and lows of the last 14 years and it seems fitting that this special piece from my first group show would belong to her.

I titled this piece Spiritus because it means “breath” in Latin. While I was painting this, I was working on learning to breathe more deeply so that I could relax my body. The cloud formations in this piece also reminded me of the breath of heaven.

I chose this piece for the cover and the feature painting for July because it was my best work that year. I’m also pretty sure my youngest, whose birthday is in July, asked for it to be her birth month painting. I hope it invites you to breathe deeper and that the morning light gives you a sense of hope.

For those with the Scripture calendar

This month’s artwork is paired with Job 33:4 which reminds us, “The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.” We often breathe without really thinking about it but if we pause and pay attention, we will recognize it for the miracle that it is.

Questions for reflection, if you want to go deeper: Take some deep, slow breaths. How does it feel to know that with each inhale and exhale, the Creator of the universe is giving you life? Imagine yourself in this painting. Where are you? How is God meeting you in that place?

Only 15 Tinies Remaining!

I recently had the privilege of visiting Toronto and seeing some family and old friends. I had brought what was left of my Tiny Expanses paintings to show people there and to my surprise and delight, 12 of them were adopted! This means that I only have 15 Tiny Expanses paintings remaining. THANK YOU to so many of you who have already bought them for yourselves or for others! If you have been thinking about getting one or need a nice gift for someone, I encourage you not to wait any longer. Head over to my online shop to view and purchase the remaining ones.

Thank you again for supporting my art journey. It truly is incredible that I get to share my gifts and make a living doing it.

The post Every Painting Has a Story: July 2023 – “Spiritus” appeared first on Olive Chan Art.