Why I use a Gold Under-painting

Behind the pain fear
Etched on the faces
Something is shining
Like gold but better
Rumours of glory
Bruce Cockburn, 1980

The constant that unites energy and mass is the speed of light according to Einstein.  Underneath all of creation is light.  This is the refection of glory that Cockburn sings about and believers of many faiths see into as God.  For me, painting is a way to explore these rumors of glory and gain glimpses of the Creator in creation.  I learned the technique of using a gold under-painting from another painter and it resonated immediately with my life view and artistic convictions.  Recently I have laid down a layer of black first, then the gold.  I like the look and the statement.  The world we live in is a mix of good and evil, light and darkness, glory and chaos.  My view is that glory wins in the long run, but the darkness helps us see it more clearly.  Look carefully and see both in the painting above!