My inspiration for this series title “Sacred Vessels” come from my thoughts about healing. I look at materials I used in creating this series, it is about the wood that I choose, wood that had a previous use and spent time in the desert weathering the elements over many seasons. It has marinated in the DNA of the desert and recorded the desert experience both day and night.
Spiritually speaking, I have explored the nature of healing and the influence of light to the process. God is described as Light in many of the major religions. Light plays an important role in my work. Most of my pieces are infused with translucent phosphorescence layers. These layers emit a light, a glow in dark and the darker the setting the stronger the light.
I remember an evening where my mind and soul wandered into a thick darkness, a wilderness place that I came across looking for answers to prayer and meditation on healing I was seeking. In the heavy darkness, one of my pieces provided enough light to refuel faith and hope.
Taos is spiritually magical and has special places of healing and mission Chimayo being one of those healing places. I embed soil I have collected from Mission Chimayo within all my artwork.
I like to believe that my pieces help contemplate spirituality. That although God is invisible his manifestation can be perceived by the power of Light, the emotion of love. and His healing nature.
Finally, music influence my work and remembered the message from the group Jars of Clay.
2 Cor 4:7
If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives.
A message is embedded in our ordinary lives….we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.
I am reminded as an artist that I have Light to share.
Spiritual objects help the viewer focus onto what is holy and mysterious. Several of my new pieces remind me of a primitive Monstrance. The spirit hovers above the earth, connecting what is holy with whom is holy.
My mind is impressed with the thoughts of healing the body, mind, and spirit. We must use all that is available to heal.
We pray and beg for our bodies to be healed and have faith that God will answer our prayers for healing. “God…get me out of this pain and my death”. And the prayer comes back answered in a way we do not expect when God answers us with …”I’ll get you through”. “Lord heal my body, and He healed my mind.
The desert DNA is present in this piece. My imagination took me back to that time and wilderness place.
A sunset framed against the desert horizon, a sign that special moments are about to begin: it’s a brief interlude before the light of the day becomes the light of the night.
Moments like this are sacred, I want to believe its time like this that connects me with the spiritual realm, allowing me time to explore and commune with something greater than the dimensions I exist. “I want these moments to last longer,” I say. Much harder to explain…easier to experience.
There are times in the studio where I experience a spiritual stillness and humility. Love those desert nights.
When I let go, I guide my thoughts into prayers. ..and somehow the prayers become a spoken layer in my work like an image of an invisible God. My night encounters have become sacred rituals, connecting God and my work.
Interesting where thoughts arise as I imagine that I am creating healing pieces focusing on the themes of the restoration of health and harmony. The curative properties of Light are expressed deeper in darker settings where I imagine the prayer layers are visible as light energy. I imagine the light energy collected and stored in a sacred vessel during the day and dispensed into the night and the darker the setting: this light protects the night and connects to God.
“Within the process of creating my work, there is a time that the work brings me to “places” that fill me with the spaciousness of the universe while my artificial boundaries are disolved. It feels like freedom, and Exodus from life tethered in four dimensions”
Part of my recent series of cast resin pieces titled “Into the Darkness” focuses on “Light” created by underwater beings. Unlike light emitting from a light bulb, which can appear angular and glaring, the light emitted from the organisms has an ethereal feel. Light represents “life” itself and symbolizes the presence of God. Creating these recent pieces I got a sense that I may be depicting the invisible nature of God. Darkness as a symbol represents evil and fear. Only Light can dispel darkness. Darkness cannot dispel Light. The nature of light and dark cannot exist without the other. A black background sets the mood for light invading darkness.
An eerie light emits from the Taos gorge illuminating a visitor bringing its light to the dark abyss.
I am influenced by my desert surroundings. My studio faces stony mountains and a jagged skyline, such a contrast between sky and land. The heat in the summertime consumes you and demands your attention. During the day the sun lingers high in the sky and the heat remains throughout the night. The silence of the desert accentuates my senses releasing memories along the journey, many times now with a fresh perspective.
I try to imbue thoughts of faith, restoration, and healing within my work. I believe light has healing power for the body, mind and spirit. I add healing soil collected from healing areas in the southwest such as Mission Chimayo and Sedona, AZ. Many of the pieces have the healing soil from the mission integrated into the pieces. The light emitted from the layers cast with phosphorescent powders provides light and pierces the darkness, fading over time to a tiny glow.
“The most precious light is the one that visits you in your darkest hour!” Mehmet Murat Ildan
My studio is full of shards, artifacts, and salvage. At times, I re-purpose these pieces into my work which provides a pathway to new work and a new direction. I experiment illuminating the work with LED light fixtures as a way of viewing them in a dark setting. My pieces, when viewed in natural light have distinct characteristics and it is the light effects the LED fixtures provide when viewing in a dark setting that set the piece apart. A different connection and context is created as the light penetrates the translucent layers and reacts to the layers mixed with phosphorescent powders.
With this new series, I have created a sense of motion in the piece. This new work has the piece hovering and gliding over desert and ocean landscapes or seascapes. The different pitch provides a sense of descending, flying or a sense of hovering. The changing color of light creates a wide range of spiritual moods, from calmness and healing to a sense of peace.
“Seeking the Sacred V” The last of this series. 18″x 7″x 17″ Alligator Juniper, cast resin, steel ball joint hardware, LED light, UV Light. There is a beautiful planet that lights and glows beautifully under UV light. The elements of earth, air, and water intermingle as an intruder looms above the land. The resin impregnated the live edge of this piece of wood creating a seascape showing a sea floor and a sky hovering over the ocean. Clouds are suspended between layers and emit an eerie glow. An LED pulsates light behind the piece and illuminating a portion of the ray.
If the pieces I create imbue a “mystical” mood to my viewer, I feel I have succeeded in my mission as an artist. If the pieces take you to a journey of deeper perceptive state, even better.
Glidingover a canyon drawn by eerie lights penetrating the darkness. The spirit world beckons the arrival of the new light. It brings new meaning, new thoughts of well being, prosperity and peace. The hope that Light illuminates the hope in our lives.
“The most precious light is the one that visits you in your darkest hour!” Mehmet Murat Ildan
The arrival of this Light emboldens us to search and find new strength from a revived faith. The Light allows us to experience a renewing of mind and spirit, bringing new ideas into unfinished parts in our lives.
I continue the theme of Light penetrating the darkness. My pieces act as ” lenses” diffusing LED light through the translucent layers of cast resin. Hidden layers of light come alive in dark settings, creating and emitting their own light illuminating our world.
Mixed media. $350 to $500 .
11″ to 15″ in height- 4″ to ” wide. Cast resins-wood-LED light and steel mounting hardware. The art of Larry Ortega
Part of my recent series of cast resin pieces titled “Into the Darkness” focuses on “Light” created by underwater beings. Unlike light emitting from a light bulb, which can appear angular and glaring, the light emitted from the organisms has an ethereal feel. Light represents “life” itself and symbolizes the presence of God. Creating these recent pieces I got a sense that I may be depicting the invisible nature of God. 
Darkness as a symbol represents evil and fear. Only Light can dispel darkness. Darkness cannot dispel Light. The nature of light and dark cannot exist without the other. A black background sets the mood for light invading darkness.
I am influenced by my desert surroundings. My studio faces stony mountains and a jagged skyline, such a contrast between sky and land. The heat in the summertime consumes you and demands your attention. During the day the sun lingers high in the sky and the heat remains throughout the night. The silence of the desert accentuates my senses releasing memories along the journey, many times now with a fresh perspective.
I try to imbue thoughts of faith, restoration, and healing within my work. I believe light has healing power for the body, mind and spirit. I add healing soil collected from healing areas in the southwest such as Mission Chimayo and Sedona, AZ. Many of the pieces have the healing soil from the mission integrated into the pieces. The light emitted from the layers cast with phosphorescent powders provides light and pierces the darkness, fading over time to a tiny glow.
With this new series, I have created a sense of motion in the piece. This new work has the piece hovering and gliding over desert and ocean landscapes or seascapes. The different pitch provides a sense of descending, flying or a sense of hovering. The changing color of light creates a wide range of spiritual moods, from calmness and healing to a sense of peace.
The elements of earth, air, and water intermingle as an intruder looms above the land. The resin impregnated the live edge of this piece of wood creating a seascape showing a sea floor and a sky hovering over the ocean. Clouds are suspended between layers and emit an eerie glow. An LED pulsates light behind the piece and illuminating a portion of the ray.
Gliding over a canyon drawn by eerie lights penetrating the darkness. The spirit world beckons the arrival of the new light. It brings new meaning, new thoughts of well being, prosperity and peace. The hope that Light illuminates the hope in our lives. 
I continue the theme of Light penetrating the darkness. My pieces act as ” lenses” diffusing LED light through the translucent layers of cast resin. Hidden layers of light come alive in dark settings, creating and emitting their own light illuminating our world.