Candlelit

Behind the painting

The story of Candlelit.

I painted Candlelit in 2019, not long after I met Kevin. I was beginning to feel that I was lovable and deserving of a really good relationship. What we were starting together felt healthy, and I was beginning to turn toward that.

There were still difficult things happening around me. I was going through custody battles and living with toxicity in the house I called home. Those hardships were still there as I began to feel something warmer and safer in my relationship.

Kevin was a mirror that helped me see the light still shining within me. Through all those shadows, I was beginning to recognize that I still had light of my own. That is what Candlelit holds for me.

She began on a canvas that already held another woman, an abandoned grayscale study I no longer connected with. I painted over it, and that same canvas became the beginning of something that reflected where I was in my life.

I was inspired by the warm glow of a single candle flame and the way that light softens the human form. I used gold leaf paint and metallic gold acrylic paint to bring that warmth into her body. Her light carries the comfort and safety I was beginning to feel.

Candlelit took roughly twenty hours to paint. She holds a moment when I was beginning to believe I deserved a healthy relationship and to see the light that was still shining in me.

Gold leaf paint and metallic gold acrylic paint on canvas · 24 × 24 inches · 2019