Jeaninesdream | Creation Paintings Image History by artist Jeanine Semon

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creation paintings image history

“The sixteen paintings of Creation were a surprise to me. They went so easily, so unexpectedly like a gift from God. What I did was start a painting for a young girl named Rachel, for her bat mitzvah, working with pastels and stencils on a sheet of black paper, using my personal symbols, dolphins, birds, and stars. I just got into the process, flowing with the technique, no pressure, all intuitive. Painting daily in the same technique, doing a half dozen or so, a friend stopped in and looked over my shoulder. “You’re painting Creation!”

Creation had not crossed my mind, but the idea was so exciting though not altogether believable. I continued working, just gliding along from one image to another. And they grew into fifteen. When I thought I was done, a lineup of Angels seemed to want to join the group. I felt them as rows and rows of figures. No dolphins, no stars. They felt a little different than the rest. Decidedly, they are supposed to be there.

So, in the end they became sixteen.There is an order, some logic connecting to the actual theory of Creation, from the first blast, to light separated from darkness. Plants grow, creatures appear and finally woman. But in artistic reality, I never knew what hit me until I was done. I must add that I have been a Torah student for almost twenty years."