The Story

A New Day was begun in New York City for Spirits of Brooklyn, an exhibition exploring the meeting point between the real and the imaginal, and the sacred presence hidden within everyday life. At the center of the painting, a female figure dances freely, surrounded by women, flowers, a rainbow, and the familiar panther sculptures that guard the entrance to Prospect Park. Illuminated with gold leaf, the panthers become mythological guardians, marking the threshold between the everyday world and a place of transformation.

Above the dancing figure is an enormous flower painted with lapis lazuli, a precious blue pigment traditionally associated with intuition, spiritual insight, and the divine. Rising above her like the lotus forms found in sacred art, it symbolizes transcendence, awakening, and the unfolding of consciousness. The rainbow and emerging flowers further evoke hope, renewal, and the possibility of beginning again.

I completed the painting in Florence, Italy, after encountering Fra Angelico’s luminous frescoes at the Museum of San Marco. I was deeply inspired by his use of radiant color, gold, and sacred space, and by the sense that his figures exist between the earthly and divine realms. A New Day brings the contemporary spirit and community of Brooklyn into conversation with the devotional beauty of Florence, creating a vision of feminine joy, spiritual awakening, and collective renewal.

Materials & Framing

This painting was created with archival oil paint and 24-karat gold leaf on a museum-grade panel, using luminous mineral pigments derived from lapis lazuli, azurite, rhodonite, and traditional Italian earth pigments. These richly colored materials have a deep connection to art history. Lapis lazuli, azurite, and earth pigments were treasured by Italian Renaissance masters for their depth, brilliance, and enduring beauty.

Gold also carries powerful symbolic and alchemical associations. Traditionally connected with the sun, divine illumination, immortality, and spiritual perfection, it represents the culmination of the alchemical process, the transformation of ordinary matter into its most radiant and perfected state. Its luminous surface shifts with the light, giving the painting a sense of presence that changes as the viewer moves around it.

I am also drawn to gemstones for their symbolic and metaphysical associations. Lapis lazuli has long been connected with intuition, inner wisdom, and spiritual insight. Azurite is traditionally associated with expanded awareness, transformation, and opening the mind to unseen realms. Rhodonite is believed to open and nurture the heart, encouraging compassion, emotional healing, and self-love. By incorporating these pigments into the painting, the materials become more than sources of color. They carry their own histories, energies, and layers of meaning.

The painting is presented in a hand-painted, carved wooden frame made in Italy and embellished with gold leaf. The frame was carefully selected to echo the ornate architectural details, decorative flourishes, and gilded surfaces I encountered throughout Florence. Rather than simply surrounding the painting, it becomes an extension of the artwork itself, completing the sense that the piece might be a small fragment lifted from an ancient Florentine palazzo.

A New Day

oil and 24 karat gold leaf on panel

7 x 5 inches

$1,500 USD

Worldwide shipping is available. Free shipping is included within the United States and Canada. For shipping rates to other countries, please email kristy@kristygordon.com.