ALWAYS LEARNING
EVER EXPANDING
ENDLESSLY EXPRESSING
Creativity is Harmony Eccles' constant companion as she seeks to hear, understand and express her surroundings. Painting is her greatest teacher. Design gets her out of bed in the morning and keeps her awake at night.
PAINTINGS
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Be Bold: SOLD
Be bold enough to color outside the lines. Let the boxes that define you overlap and change. Have courage to let the colors of your personality shine and grow and expand. When life is hard to understand, let those who love you help connect the dots of the bigger picture.
Aerial View: SOLD
This painting reminds me of an aerial photograph of a landscape. It is a view that often goes unseen and lends broad perspective. From above we can take in cultivated fields of boldness, gardens of joy, roads untraveled and open ground waiting for preparation. At surface level we see a glimpse of what lies ahead and that is enough. There is someone who sees the greater picture and in that reality, peace can be found.
Iowa Flint: SOLD
There's a place of serene perspective among the flint rocks that line a creek in southeast Iowa. The rocks remind us that life moves and nature keeps a record with lines and color.
Surrendered: 23cmx 32cm: SOLD
Letting the current carry me at a surrendered peaceful pace. Breathing in purposeful persistence and exhaling external expectations. Finding strength in soothing blues and clarity in focused gold.
Unpredictable Timelines: 28cm x 36cm: SOLD
Finding strength in embracing the unpredictable. Celebrating colors from my favorite rock formations. Patterns in stones remind me that there are vast layers in each of our lives. And sometimes we have to step back and look at what has happened over time to understand that progress is taking place in the present.
Passing Storm: 100cm x 130cm
Working through grief sometimes feels like a constant storm. The storm blows in, passes and returns. There are moments when color shows itself to give our heart a break from loss. Days come when the sky clears and the clouds lift. We may still feel a wash of gray settle around us but slowly become aware that space is being made for the suns return.
Overlapping Emotions: 125cm x 160cm
Allowing myself to process loss has exposed my canvas to something unfamiliar. Undefined shapes and bold colors overlap as do the thoughts in my own mind. Jagged edges and linear scratches give a voice to the raw reaction my body has to grief. Layers of feelings interact with one another until they have been understood.
New Dawn: 70cm x 110cm
A new dawn is around the corner. Light comes over the hills into a new year with a hint of vibrancy at its edges and a touch of shadow carrying over from this past year. We can accept what was and move toward what will be with hope. Let the balance of bright and dark live together harmoniously as a new chapter begins.
Underlying Hope: 80cm x 120cm
Finding myself able to breath deeply when I look at the balance, proportion and repetition of this piece. In the past months I have noticed the light gray - fogginess of uncertainty and lingering loss. I have been subject to the dark gray - the pandemic in the middle of everything. And I’ve been reminded that the hope (yellow) is present even if it’s stuck on the bottom at times. These days still test my endurance but there is a bright ring of truth holding each factor in place. Is life really organized into three nice shapes? No. Some days still feel like the frustrated textures of chaotic lines but I’m increasingly aware that light is making itself known.
Breaking Through: 100cm x 130cm
The dark is unsettling, heavy and present. But the light demands focus. It breaks through and holds me in stillness. Here there is time to recognize loss while simultaneously anticipating change over time. As the moon breaks through storm clouds, I take a deep breath knowing the light is present even if subtle. The contrast almost makes the light seem stronger.
Becoming
The Müggel See spoke of spiritual transformation to me. I unknowingly saw myself as an icy lake with dry brittle grasses at its shore, sitting next to barren branches against an overcast sky. However, God sees the sun breaking through the clouds to melt my icy heart allowing life to flourish and move within me as life moves within water. God sees the trees blooming and grasses reseeding. The divine sees what we will become.
Black Bird: 50cm x 50cm
Drawing inspiration from nature has always been key in forming color combinations for my work. I pay attention to colors that ignite a moment of joy. A blackbird with a bright orange beak sitting on bare branches against the remaining winter snow caught my eye.
New Heights: SOLD
Looking up. Finding joy in climbing color and visible texture. This imagery reminds me of the breathtaking rock formations of the western United States.
Hope Study: SOLD
A study for the painting "New Heights". Experimenting with the placement of shape and spot color as well as texture and movement outlines.
Beauty In Tension: NFS: 127cm x 117cm
As we seek God, He breaks through in our lives with love and revelation when we're experiencing doubt and discouragement (gray area) due to unexplainable life losses. The lower white area is the past, full of clarity but now clouded with current hurt. The area of text and bright color represents the moment God breaks through this place of tension with his words. His perspective becomes our focal point in the midst of difficulty. Threads of light can be our source of strength.
Risk of Faith: 64cm x 64cm
Risk of Faith is a comparison between overcoming doubts in my painting process and working though anxieties of unexplored paths. The intense red represents the constant loud voice of worry and fear when approaching something new. Fear can keep me from experiencing the beauty of the unknown. The yellow circles speak to moving forward in faith. The warm colors and hopeful text at the base of the piece give voice to the peace that is possible on the other side of uncertainty. Moving into the realm of the unseen can result in surprising delights.
Encourage: SOLD
Sometimes I just need a reminder to let myself be bold….to look at life and take a chance with something that I’m passionate about. This painting gives me an encouraging push toward what might be next on the horizon.
Bold Certainty: SOLD
Not having control on the canvas and watching something bold and beautiful transpire is a good reminder that I can trust that God goes before me on this journey and can use my life circumstances to reveal unexpected joy.
Lament: SOLD
This is one of several gestural works that helped me process through a period of grief in a healthy and productive way. The text is from the song lyrics for "Unraveling" by Cory Asbury. The black strokes of paint are a refelction of my frustration with constant change, transisiton and loss.
Unraveling I
Sometimes we feel unraveled and sometimes we need to unravel the feelings and thoughts that have become a tight mess of unprocessed emotion. This method of painting was very therapeutic. The gestural lines and bleeding paint formed a place where I could safely leave locked up emotions that needed to be released.
Lifetime Together
This painting tells of a journey that two people begin together as they see the horizon in the distance and all the memories they will create in between. Together they may enjoy countless sunrises or sunsets. Together they can be in awe of each step they take together toward the vision they share for the future.
Layers
The cracks in rocks draw my attention. While painting this I thought about how God's strength holds us together when we face tragedy and sorrow. In a similar way, a rock, when exposed to extreme weather is held together by the strength of the surrounding rock. The cracks become a part of our story. The cracks are touched by the sustaining, comforting presence of God. They become a bookmark of God's help and refuge during troubled times. "The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold." Psalm 18:2
Walk in Freedom: SOLD
Walk in Freedom with devotion to the Lord’s commands. Find joy as you stay on the road revealed; His instructed plan. And on this path you will find wisdom follows close behind. Strength it gives to He who lives with Christ first in mind.
The water and mountains of this painting embody the stillness of nighttime where clarity and wisdom are nearby. The colors black, grey and blue are intended to illustrated peace-filled strength and calm wisdom. The words are held in by paths of black ink which symbolize roads taken in life. These roads run parallel to the mountains. As the mountains represent the majesty of God, it is my hope that your paths will run parallel to his glory.
The water and mountains of this painting embody the stillness of nighttime where clarity and wisdom are nearby. The colors black, grey and blue are intended to illustrated peace-filled strength and calm wisdom. The words are held in by paths of black ink which symbolize roads taken in life. These roads run parallel to the mountains. As the mountains represent the majesty of God, it is my hope that your paths will run parallel to his glory.
Be Still: SOLD
This painting represents a peaceful stillness that comes from understanding God's majesty as it presents itself in nature. Blue, black, gray and white resemble how mountains and water might look in the moonlight. The stillness of this landscape and time of day remind me of words found in Psalm 46:1, 10 “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. He says, “Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
Sacred Place: SOLD
This painting is a story of how a flood of overwhelming and sometimes grievous circumstances (black) intertwines with our daily commitments (blue). Even when the day to day seems good, sometimes the mix of stress threatens to pull us under. But there can exist a sacred place (white) in the midst of tumultuous times which is the peace of God entering our story as a point of calming grace. All of theses factors exist together to create a picture which is beautiful while filled with tension.