Walking in Grace and Truth, Oil Painting, 2001

This modern expressionist painting by Sharron Evans features oil paint and gold leaf on a birch panel, set in a custom gold leaf frame. Painted in rich earth tones, vibrant deep reds contrast with black to create a mottled background, evoking a dreamlike atmosphere of mist or wind that envelops a flaxen horse at its center. A nautilus spiral in gold leaf begins at the horse’s neck and curls down around its feet, serving as a golden halo. This technique, reminiscent of ancient Russian, Greek, or Italian religious paintings, imbues the horse with an angelic quality. The nautilus spiral, a symbol throughout history, represents nature's grace and order amidst chaos, as well as growth, expansion, and renewal. Like many of Evans' works, which draw upon magic, mythology, and symbolism, this painting intertwines these ancient themes with her deep love for horses.
Subtly inscribed with the phrase "Walking in Grace and Beauty" into the swirling background colors, the painting suggests a universal truth that weaves through the spaces between matter. It conveys a spiritual essence, perhaps reflective of Evans’ surroundings of rural Utah, where she lives in "splendid isolation" on a pioneer-era homestead with her husband, horses, elk, bald eagles, and surrounded by ancient Indian trails. Inspired by the natural world and a land steeped in Native American history, her work recalls a time when people looked at the wilderness and found simplicity and honesty in nature.
Evans never works from photographs, instead drawing from dreams and memories, which infuses her paintings with deep personal emotion and a connection to the world around her.