Description
The inspiration for I’ve Seen Sunny Days
I’ve Seen Sunny Days is a 24×20″ non-representational abstract painting on canvas panel created during my Artist in Residency program at The Art Center in Dover, New Hampshire.
This painting belongs within the residency body of work, Attending To Light, where I sought light in my works as a source of wonder and awe. I developed each painting through an intuitive process shaped by restrained palettes, conversation between companion works, and a commitment to allowing hue to lead the direction of the paintings.
For several days, this painting remained in the studio unfinished. The structure and color relationships were present, yet the work felt as though it was waiting. I sensed that something essential had not yet arrived.
The inspiration came during my morning commute to the studio. While speaking on the phone with my mother, I was captivated by the morning sky. The atmosphere was thick and expansive ~ almost like fog yet filled with presence. The sun itself was hidden from view, but its rays stretched outward across the mountainous landscape. The light was unmistakable even though the source remained unseen.
In that moment, the message became clear.
By the time I arrived at the studio, I knew exactly what the painting had been waiting to reveal.
Light That Encourages Participation through Reflective Materials
When I arrived at the studio, I returned to the painting with the image of that sky still fresh in my mind. The upper form became a luminous orb, with light moving across the surface in sweeping rays. I used pearl in my paint to create the rays that stretch diagonally through the atmosphere of color, echoing the morning sun that filled my morning landscape view.
By reinforcing the earlier bits of copper and pearl paint, they remain embedded throughout the surface as areas where life is touched by light. These reflective materials catch and release light as the viewer moves and the atmosphere shifts, which encourages participation and attention.
As a result, the light does not simply sit on the surface but rather travels across the painting and through the layered forms beneath it.
Layers of hue create a spacious field where the luminous rays appear to move through density and depth.
Non-Representational Abstract Painting that creates space for Wonder and Awe
The final image suggests a field of emergence rather than a specific place or moment. Light appears first ~ expansive, radiant, and powerful.
Because of the layered abstraction beneath the rays, the painting feels both ancient and immediate. Color gathers and disperses across the surface, guiding the eye between density and atmosphere.
This non-representational abstract painting creates space for wonder and awe.
I’ve Seen Sunny Days holds the memory of that morning sky and the quiet clarity that arrived during a loving conversation on a beautiful morning.
The painting reflects a moment when the source of light becomes unmistakable even when it cannot be directly seen.
Exhibition
The Art Center in the Artist in Residency Exhibition from March 9 – April 30, 2026
The images presented provide examples of the reflective changes in varying light.
Painting Details
Title: I’ve Seen Sunny Days
Series: Residency, Attending To Light
Medium: Acrylic mixed media
Substrate: Canvas panel
Size: 24 × 20 inches
