Jim and Janet were getting married; I painted them a wedding gift. Both avid readers with strong opinions about books, I took key text from one of his favorites (Ayn Rand's “The Fountainhead”), one of her favorites (Virginia Woolf's “The Waves” ) and vows from their wedding. I used this text with graphic themes and colors that represent them both -- his straight, even-tempered, calming masculine solidity; her curvier, brighter, more dynamic feminine waviness -- and overlaid the shape of one, in text, over the shape of the other, as background. Two separate individuals, overlaid, overlapping, impressing upon one another; two distinct parts of a two-piece creation: marriage as diptych.

I first painted the background colors, then made paper stencils of the patterns to overlay on the other and guide the placement of the text. I used two 12” square canvasses and acrylic paint.