The Face of Love

Way back, in 1996, I had discovered that I had a natural gift for creative art expression. I had finished my ‘walk’ to raise awareness about the destruction of the Temagami forestland (http://www.bitsandpeaces.com/tttintro01.htm ) and now I was spending all my time developing my skills as an artist. My girlfriend – now wife – Joanne was very supportive, working very hard at her job so that I could continue to create my art. It was getting close to her birthday and I thought that I would surprise her with a portrait of herself. She was very surprised and she loved the ink drawing that I had created for her.

Since that time, I have surprised Joanne with several portraits. I try to create something for her every few years. ‘The Face of Love’ was the painting that I created for her in 2005.

This painting is constructed using words and sentences to tell Jo’ how I feel about her. If you look really closely you will see that this painting has a unique texture using three shades of blue, green and purple to construct these words. More than once, it is written in the painting “I love Joanne”. Circling around these significant words are other sentences: ‘Your smile is brighter than the morning sun’, ‘Your eyes reflect all the love that exists in the universe’, ‘I am Joanne’s number one fan’ and others. Throughout this painting I have also included many heart shapes and between these and the words I filled the space with a kazillion (LOL) wiggly lines.

Joanne is such a huge light in my life and I love her more and more every day. I’ve always felt that it is important to find new and exciting ways to say ‘thank you’ to those who fill your life with love.

Jim