The Forgiving Sea Project began in March 2016, coinciding with an Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy, a period of prayer held every fifty years in the Roman Catholic Church. I hung the massive 6’ x 6’ canvas in the studio at the Harrison Center for the Arts of Indianapolis, Indiana, The painting, with its calming shades of blue, feels like being underwater with rays of light shining from above and invites people to interact with the painting. The Forgiving Sea asks people to forgive themselves and each other. The current process encourages viewers to write names of those they wish to forgive on an oil painting of waves of the sea with soft pastel. Once the piece is full of names, a new layer covers the names as if washing them away. Back and forth the layers continue to transform the painting into a beautiful, soulful work of art made by the collective community. As individuals unburden themselves by forgiving those who have hurt or betrayed them, they may feel a sense of relief from the burden of grief released.
The Forgiving Sea - Layer Four
One of the most memorable signatures was from a friend and artist, Rodney Walker, who visited the studio often to talk about art and life. Like others, he wrote his message on the painting for all of us.
“We need as artists to paint more social issues to educate others” – R. Walker.
He died unexpectedly from an illness soon after writing on the Forgiving Sea. Rodney’s passing demonstrated to me that we shouldn’t wait to let things go and to live with a sense of urgency. The legacy of his message is preserved in one of the many layers of Forgiving Sea I.
In the years following, the painting had over 25 layers of names built up between them. If the work was x-rayed, thousands of names would be revealed as individual artifacts captured in a moment in time. In 2019, I painted a layer on the sea that looked finished, and it felt as if the idea for the painting had reached its end.
Forgiving Sea I - Final Layer
Forgiving Sea II - Layer 3 - September 24, 2019
Forgiving Sea II was begun after many requests to write on the painting kept coming. The realization came that this idea was much bigger than me and this was something people needed, something their souls needed. The Forgiving Sea II had a much heavier, dark energy than the first painting. A layer was done in March of 2020 that had the tiny little words “CORONA VIRUS” written on it by a young child.
Forgiving Sea II - Layer 9
The Forgiving Sea Project was back again for FORgiving Tuesday, December 1st, 2020, when Joanna Taft, Executive Director of the Harrison Center, asked me to participate in an event where instead of Giving Tuesday we had FORgiving Tuesday. This seemed like a perfect event to create Forgiving Sea III. People participated virtually by messaging the HCA and me names that were subsequently written on the Forgiving Sea III painting, with a name of someone they wished to forgive or a place or past event they needed to let go of and release to the sea. They scheduled times for people to come by the Harrison Center to do this. Eventually, I painted over the layer of names with a new layer of blue-green oil paint sea, and the names were washed away.
Pastor Richard Bray and his daughter write on the Forgiving Sea III in the Spring of 2021.
Forgiving Sea III - Layer 4
This is a favorite layer of mine, but it has changed, and, being receptive to the next powerful layer, is part of the process for me.
The Forgiving Sea III- Layer 5, on display outside of my studio
All the water leads to the sea and all the while it is in a perpetual state of change, and the Forgiving Sea Project has taught me to be open to the constant state of change in my artmaking process.