The Story

This painting was begun in New York City, and was originally created for Spirits of Brooklyn, an exhibition presented in a beautiful Brooklyn church that explores the meeting point between the real and the imaginal, and the sacred presence hidden within everyday life.

The painting weaves together elements of Prospect Park, the American Museum of Natural History, and friends from my life in New York, transforming familiar people and places through mythological imagery and Renaissance-inspired techniques. In this imagined world, contemporary Brooklyn becomes a place of mystery, memory, and spiritual possibility.

I began the painting in New York and completed it in Florence, Italy, where it took on another layer of meaning. After seeing Botticelli’s Primavera painting in person at the Uffizi. I became deeply inspired by his use of color, light, and mythology.

Materials & Framing

This painting was created with archival oil paint 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.

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 the opening of 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.

The Grass Felt Different Today

oil 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.