"Going Home" — The Painting That Changed How I Create

Walking the path may seem long and overwhelming at times, but hope and faith inspires and guides the way for a better tomorrow. Even though we walk our own journey, it’s good to know we have others who are walking a similar path. They are like angels showing us the way, intentionally or not. And amazingly enough, we and the way we view the world, become angel-like for them as well, as we make our journey home.

This painting felt very spiritual to me while painting it. Throughout the last half, while painting the people, the beginning of the song, “I’m coming home,” kept repeating in my mind as I imagined myself in the painting making this journey.

This painting I created called “Going Home”, and it quietly changed everything about how I approach my art. Up until then, I was experimenting with a process I called Anything but a Brush Whenever Possible—taking a simple idea and challenging myself to bring it to life without traditional tools. I was more focused on exploration than emotion. Just the act of creating for the sake of creating.

The painting began with a themed art show hosted by a local guild. The show was titled “Shadows,” and I originally painted a piece called “Into the Light” for it. But before the show even opened, that piece sold. So I needed to come up with something else.

I started building a forest scene, continuing my brush-free process. But something about it felt unfinished—off in a way I couldn’t quite name. That’s when I thought of an artist I admire, B.C. Nowlin, whose work often features Native Americans riding horses into a glowing horizon. I didn’t want to mimic his style, but I was inspired by the emotional pull of figures moving through space. That motion—the journey—spoke to me.

So I took a photo of my unfinished forest, loaded it into my drawing tablet, and began sketching possible figures. When I had a direction, I tested it on a practice canvas using my usual tools—spoon, fork, etc. But no matter what I did, it didn’t land. Then I picked up a brush, almost reluctantly. And just like that, the whole thing clicked into place.

Back at the original piece, I began adding the figures in, exactly as they appeared in my sketch. As I painted, a line from a song looped in my mind:
“I’m coming home, I’m coming home…”
That phrase guided my energy through the entire process. But when I finished, the title didn’t feel quite right. So I shifted it gently.
“Going Home.”

It felt quieter. Truer. Less about the destination and more about the journey itself.

What surprised me most, though, was what happened afterward. People began to share how the piece made them feel. And they weren’t random feelings—they were similar. Deep. Familiar. Somehow, a painting that began as a stylistic experiment had stirred something emotional and shared in others.

That’s when it hit me:
Even a simple idea can carry a powerful message—if I allow it.

Before Going Home, I had occasionally created from a place of feeling, but without offering any context, the story behind the emotion often got lost. This piece made me realize that when I slow down and let meaning guide the process, the result is more than just a visual—it becomes an experience others can connect to.

And since then, that’s been my approach.
Simple ideas. Felt deeply. Shared openly.
This painting didn’t just change my process—it reshaped my art purpose.

You're welcome to checkout "Into the Light"