Ordinary Prayers

A Solo Exhibition, Opportunity, and Challenge

Michelle Belto

In her most recent body of work, Michelle Belto reveals the subtle power of reflection and the patient beauty of the intuitive, integrated path she chose years ago.

Diana Lyn Roberts Independent Curator, Writer, Art Historian Ordinary Prayers Exhibition Catalog, 2024

One fall morning in 1989, I was awakened by words from a dream: “You need to paint, big.” Although I had no formal background in the visual arts, I did have a personal history with moments like this. Paths often open for me through dreams, synchronistic events, and intuitive knowing. Over the years, I learned to honor what I heard, so I did.

I bought a "big" roll of heavy art paper, a basket full of interesting and unexplored materials, and a 4’ x 8' plywood board as an easel, all of which I brought home to wait for direction. It came a week or so later. “Paint an old woman's head in the very center of the paper.” I found a reference image from a magazine and set about the task. Step-by-step over a couple of months, I was directed through dreams, insights, or intuitive moments to complete the painting. When it was done, I knew this first painting would become a series of five, 4’ x 6’ paintings on paper. Wisdom Woman would be the last in the series. “And if you are faithful, you will one day become this woman.”

Schooled by Ordinary Mystics

Encaustic, pigment, and oil on panel, 12 x 12 x 1.5 in

Crossing the Bridge to Empathy

Encaustic, pigment, cold wax, and oil on panel, 24 x 24 x 2 in

Some 35 years later in a Nave Museum solo exhibition, Ordinary Prayers, I have lived, I believe, faithfully into the story of those five paintings, where I now recognize my own face.

The exhibition was conceived in 2021 at the IEA Retreat in Morro Bay, encouraged by my longtime friend and mentor, Floride (Flo) Bartell. It would revisit my formative years in the convent in Victoria, TX, where the scafolding of an inner life began. I intended to paint art inspired by my awareness of a deeper reality and the evidence of that presence in my life.

Realizing that for the work to be authentic, I needed an unconventional studio practice that could evolve organically, allow for more experimentation, and liberate my ability to control the work. I wanted to approach the canvas with curiosity and intention, but without a clear idea of direction.

The initial stages of this work were unplanned and seemingly random, with each layer of paint responding to its prior layer, sometimes working with as many as 15 layers of pigmented wax or oil. Once cured, I applied a final layer of opaque encaustic over the whole or partial surface and then stored the work so that time would erase even the memory of the original painting. Using various sharp-edged tools, I scraped selectively, working blindly to find my way into meaning. Through the natural ability of wax to layer and conceal, I was able to come close to my original experience of bypassing my conscious mind to tap into a larger intelligence.

Despite the original artworks falling apart due to my inexperience with materials and processes, the images and the memories of that morning in 1989 have stayed with me. Over several decades, I dedicated myself to learning my craft and creating a lot of work.

Like Don Quixote, I continued to search for access to that original state of intuitive grace of my first paintings. With this new body of work, my windmill has become a window that opens to life's ordinariness and the unexpected beauty of my backyard.

Between No Longer and Not Yet

Oil, cold wax, and encaustic on panel 11 x 14 x 1.5 in

Also featured on the back cover

Step-by-Step Development

Note: The work of this show falls into three categories: cold wax, encaustic, and a blend of the two. The steps I used to create the work are the same. I often have at least three cold wax paintings in development at a time, along with a couple of encaustic paintings to keep the workflow moving. Working on several paintings simultaneously allows me to approach the work with a fresh perspective. I am also less likely to return to work before I have had time to see the next logical step. The Heavens Declare is a cold wax painting.

Stage 1 - Setting the Intention

A year into the work for the exhibition, I began to use the same general intention for each painting, often writing the words directly on the cradle board or carving the intention into the base layer of wax for encaustic work. Taken from a quote from Hildegard of Bingen, I wanted to be “that feather on the breath of God” as I painted, taking the stance of a witness. This painting, like the other cold wax paintings, began with intuitive mark making using a variety of graphite and ink materials along with R&F pigment sticks. I applied a layer of cold wax and, using a squeegee, blended and smeared the marks and oil into the wood. This layer was allowed to dry completely.

Stage 2 - Building A Foundational History

Working with opposites of cool/warm, transparent/opaque, textured/smooth, dark/light, I built up layers of paint without too much thought until the paint became too wet to continue without losing some of the history. After a couple of days of drying, I returned to the work, shifting and turning the canvas as I looked for a hint of an organizational structure as a starting point. I blocked out areas and added contrasting shapes, lines, and marks. I am attentive to underlying areas of complexity that are revealed.