Skip to main content
Category

Figures

oil painting of woman in a church

New Marian painting: Interrogatio

By Virgin Mary, Art and Faith, Figures, Architecture, Painting

My newest Marian painting “Interrogatio: Inquiry” depicts that moment of questioning “How can this be?” when the angel announced the Christ’s coming to Mary at the Annunciation. Mary’s vulnerability before God is represented here by the nude female figure. The grand space of the architecture represents God’s overpowering presence. The architecture also becomes a metaphor for Mary herself, often referred to in medieval texts as the Temple or dwelling place of the Lord because of her role in the Incarnation.

Read More
female figure white arch gold background painting by Michelle Arnold Paine

Art Celebrates Women at the Ohio Statehouse

By Figures, Painting, Exhibits and Events

Since I recently began painting figures on metal leaf , I thought the “Red, White and Blue” exhibit would be a good moment to continue the challenge. In the drawings I leave the backgrond completely blank, allowing the lines to carry all of the expressive power of the figure. In a similar way, in the gold silhouettes I am using the gold for the negative space.

Read More
gold mixed media painting contemporary icon

Contemporary Icons: Gold Silhouettes

By Figures, Painting, Art and Faith, Virgin Mary

My newest series of Gold Silhouette paintings are meant to be contemporary icons, modern interpretations of traditional icons. Whether architecture or figure, even landscape, my work has always centered on a theme of convergence between heaven and earth. Similarly, these new mixed media pieces juxtapose the expressive minimalist quality of my figure drawings with the other-worldly materials of metal leaf and paint inspired by iconography.

Read More

Spiritual Nudes: Theology and Empathy in Monoprints

By Printmaking, Press and Publications, Virgin Mary, Figures

Her figures, far from the classical ideal of beauty, retain the brokenness of humanity, a brokenness that is both spiritual and physical. At the same time, Paine preserves their dignity and value, arguing that man’s design is not wholly evil. In each of these figures the signs of life and death are evident, like permanent and deep marks that cannot be wiped away.

Read More

Figure Summer

By Drawing, Exhibits and Events, Teaching, FiguresNo Comments

This summer has been a wonderful summer for figurative art – both in my own work and in Boston! I have been regular attending a few figure drawing groups and really enjoying the opportunity to really engage with the figure outside the classroom. I have been so busy the last couple of years teaching my figure classes that I haven’t actually taken much opportunity.

Read More