Spirit in the Sky 1969

Ronnie Landfield gave us “Spirit in the Sky,” and it's like staring into pure, unadulterated sunshine. I can almost feel the warmth radiating from those strokes of gold and amber. It's interesting to imagine Ronnie in the studio, maybe wrestling with how to capture something as elusive as spirit. He's down there in the material muck, trying to make something immaterial. Look at how the paint sort of trails across the surface, like the wind playing with clouds. There's this streak of white, fighting its way through the golden haze, and you can almost feel the energy of the gesture, the artist's hand moving across the canvas, figuring out how to embody this feeling. Painting is like this conversation across time, from one painter to another, inspiring each other to keep pushing, keep searching for new ways to express what it feels like to be alive.