Hear My Praise 2004

Rochelle Blumenfeld made this painting, "Hear My Praise," with oil. It feels like light itself is the main character. Look at how the figures are built with these loose, brushy strokes. You can almost feel the movement, the energy of creation happening right before your eyes. The paint isn't trying to hide anything. It's thin in places, thick in others, letting the canvas breathe and giving the whole image a kind of shimmering quality. Focus on those hands reaching up, how they become shadows at the top. There's something really powerful about that gesture, like they're trying to touch something beyond what we can see. It's not just about technique, it's about something bigger, about the act of reaching, the expression of faith. I'm reminded of paintings by artists like Bill Traylor, who also had this uninhibited kind of vision. Art, after all, is a conversation.