Category: Figurative

Family, 2024

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Available for purchase at JoannaAplin.com Inquire For Pricing

The Anointing, 2024

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Currently on display and available for purchase at Petroff Gallery in Toronto, ON.  

Dance, 2022

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“Get crazier with your art” he says. “Easier said than done,” I say to myself. He sees and feels what I do, however, and it is sound advice. So after a week of struggling in another piece, I pivot and decide to ‘play’ and see where it goes. When I think ‘crazy’ I think freer lines and shapes and trusting more of my instinctual movements – rather than a contrived, thought-out composition. I can’t seem to be that spontaneous with my colour however. Colour theory is complex, so it requires more time and thought for me especially if I want to be daring. Colours have the ability to accentuate a feeling or expression, and how they work together can either complement or confuse the overall piece. (I’ve had this colour palette in my archive for over six months, just itching to be used in one of my works). As I started to place lines and shapes together I could see abstract figures in dance-like poses … yes! I want to dance too! Turn the music up! The composition started coming together and the colours approved of it too. What a way to end a week of creative lows – to paint a vivid retro dancing scene! A real turn of events!

In The Balance, 2022

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There is a real battle to be won in the hearts and minds of man. We strive for independence yet the irony is, everyone is a slave to something. Even as Christians, we are continually coming up against disbelief in our thoughts, reactions, complacency and even in our hyperactivity for the Lord’s work. We become good at “putting on” – but when the Lord breaks in and reveals we are faced with a truer representation of what really happened on the cross and what is intended for us. This process, this stripping away is the dynamic, sacrificial love of God for us. So here we have a young man, liberated with colour, yet his posture bears much weight. The vibrant colours represent the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit. A deep searching begins and the body awaits. Corrie Ten Boom once said, “Hold everything in your hands lightly, otherwise it hurts when God pries your fingers open.” The mercies of God, when we choose to obey Him, may still require suffering, but the outcome will produce a life of great love, freedom and peace.