as told by the artist, Sharon McAuley

Standing alone in front of a blank canvas with a palette full of oil paints at my side is one of my favorite things. I love that creative, solitary space. But if you put someone behind me looking over my shoulder watching me work—someone who has expectations—it changes the dynamic almost completely. Suddenly, it’s not “me” painting, it’s “us”. We together generate a unique energy as we pursue the risky business of collaboration.

“Currencies” was painted by “us“ not “me”. The “us” included Julie Boleyn and Marcia Patton who contacted me to invite me to do a new artistic expression of Holy Currencies; it included Kathryn Nishibayashi who (among other details) kept a lookout and provided a safe harbor for the packaged painting and prints when I shipped them from Michigan; it included Eric Law, the visionary founder of Kaleidoscope being honored for his life-giving ministry; in widening circles, it included the individuals and communities connected to Kaleidoscope. And, not last or least but actually central, it included our Creator-God, who loves to stand with us at our easels, work benches, kitchen counters, bedsides, seasides, and all places where we do creative expression—thrilled to still be calling worlds into existence along with us.

Before deciding to take on this painting challenge, I sat with, gazed upon, pondered, played with, listened to, questioned, and explored all the words that spell out the Cycle of Blessings, the six Holy Currencies: time and place, wellness, relationship, money, truth, and gracious leadership.

I was acutely aware that the clock had already started ticking. It was July 28, and the painting had to be started, finished, dried, and shipped to arrive in Los Angeles for a celebration on August 26—a nearly impossible timeline for oils. But the Currencies spoke to me and began to stir up swirling images that I wanted to paint—almost as if someone had breathed into the original graphic design and it was coming to life in a new way asking me to translate images into substance. I had to paint it—I said “Yes!”

Marcia and Julie caught the vision of what I proposed: an organic whole that would show vibrant currents in motion as they touched and interacted with each other; the lettering would be integrated and subdued, not dominant—words that flowed and interwove.

From start to finish, the 30”x24” painting took about ten days. I mixed the colors using a palette of seven Winsor & Newton oils: Titanium White, Lemon Yellow, Cadmium Yellow Light, Alizarin Crimson, Cadmium Red Light, Ultramarine Blue, and Phthalo Blue. The whole background was hand-applied (no brushes, only gloved hands), just as I have been oil painting since 2019 when my husband, Frank, died suddenly. Without brushes, painting became for me a more personal experience, my whole self involved and connected—an intimate conversation happening on several levels.

I can’t tell you exactly why, how, or what I did as this painting emerged. Currencies guided me as I listened continually and gazed often. I noticed what I loved, and felt a growing clarity and desire about what I wanted to say visually; I followed what was set in motion, building upon colors that were coming to life, honoring and preserving texture where it showed up. Earthy elements appeared—body and spirit merged. As I always do, I invited beauty to be birthed in some part of the painting if not the whole. I hoped there would be an expression of healing or resolution, and a strong sense of relationship happening in the midst of vibrant life forces.

The lettering called for a set of new detail brushes in three sizes. The letters would be carefully hand-shaped yet varied, like people; the phrases would not be stagnant—no perfected finished lines, but shifting currents of meaning. The viewer would have to come up close to see them. Allowing the painting to be an organic whole required this. The words weren’t simply information placed on a colorful background. Every facet of the whole helped to facilitate communion, like the unified aspects of an icon.

When the painting was finished, there were only a few days left. I had a canvas full of wet paint needing to dry enough for safe shipping. To help it along, I turned on a space heater and warmed up the room, then I waited and watched. When the surface was dry to the touch, I knew it could ship but would need to be handled with care to avoid scratches until the paint was fully set. I arranged for archival quality photographs to be taken by Erin McAuley (www.emcauley.com), then sent it off on a wing and a prayer.

On Thursday, August 25, UPS delivered the painting to Kaleidoscope Institute. Both Kathryn and Julie were there to unwrap the package and see that it had arrived in good shape. The following evening, it was presented to Eric Law—a surprise gift thanking him for all that he has done for countless others through the multi-faceted ministry of Kaleidoscope Institute. From Michigan, I celebrated with you.

When a series of fifty archival signed and numbered prints was ordered, Nancy Wilson—a Lansing, Michigan printer—enthusiastically agreed to do the project. The prints were finished and shipped on November 18, arriving safely on November 23.

I am so grateful for the invitation and the challenge of doing this painting that brought me into relationship with the Kaleidoscope community. It has been my privilege to paint with you. May we all continue the joyful work of co-creating in all that we do.

Sharon Mick McAuley November 24, 2022 Lansing, Michigan

Artist biography

Sharon Mick McAuley is a Michigan artist with an enthusiasm for oil painting, watercolor, and experimental media. For three years now, all her oil painting has been hand-applied, using no brushes. Sharon facilitates individuals and small groups in an ever-growing art-spirit community. Creativity, spirituality, and nature are interwoven threads running throughout her work. Her paintings have been exhibited across Michigan and her artwork, music, and writings have been published in several books. She spends as much time as possible walking the shoreline of Lake Michigan.

Sharon’s love for painting began when she was growing up in Midland, Michigan, the site of a beautiful Community Center designed by local architect Alden B. Dow. She attended art classes there for several years learning all the basic mediums. Later, she studied with Lenore Haber and others at Green Lake Conference Center, Wisconsin, and, more recently, awakened to a love for oil painting while being mentored by Ellie Harold in Frankfort, Michigan. With this foundation of artistic skills, Sharon has always incorporated the arts into her work.

It’s not unusual to hear Sharon joke about how impossible it is, at her age, to remember not only her health history but her work history! In a nutshell, she graduated from Michigan State University, went on to St Bonaventure University, American Baptist Seminary of the West, and then became a life-long student of spiritual formation and the arts. Sharon’s “day jobs” have included roles such as associate pastoral ministries, hospice spiritual care, music ministry, bereavement counseling, and spiritual direction.

For twenty years now, she has focused on two things: (1) facilitating the practice of spiritual formation and the arts with individuals and small groups honoring each person’s traditions, and (2) her own art making—sketches, paintings, stories, poems, songs, media posts. The books she has created, which feature her art, music, and writing, are resources that facilitate wellbeing. Sharon loves working with people, but she also loves the beautiful solitude of working in her studio alone.

In the summer of 2019, when Sharon’s husband, Frank, died unexpectedly, she discovered how healing and freeing it was to do oil painting without using brushes. A palette knife for mixing colors, and (a renewable resource) paper towels to wipe her fingers are her only tools. In nitrile gloved hands—for protection against toxins in the paint—she applies the oil pigments directly onto stretched canvases, her whole self involved in what becomes a very immediate, personal expression. During the past three years, more than twenty of her new hand-applied oil paintings have been exhibited in Frankfort and Lansing.

As much as possible, Sharon spends time with her family in the three places she feels at home: Waterford, Lansing, and Frankfort. It’s not unusual to find her walking the shoreline of Lake Michigan in all seasons—to her, the most beautiful place on earth.