Painting for Children
by Lucretia Voigt
Sopist "Gade" Lertwongprasert, born in Chiangmai in northern Thailand, may not speak perfect English. Her universal language, however, is her art.

ROB BENCHLEY/The Independent One hundred pecent of the proceeds from the sale of Sopist "Gade" Lertwongprasert's paintings will go to the Hosean International Ministries in Haiti

"Since I was a child, I paint whatever," she explained recently in her studio upstairs in the home of Ruth Blount. "But I started to be serious with it when I was in high school." Gade attended the Chiangmai University and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in painting. Now 26, Gade has spent the last 19 months on Nantucket, working as a nanny and furthering her studies in art through classes at the Nantucket Island School of Design and Art.

Gade paints with oils, layering the colors to create feeling and depth, saturating the canvasses. It is a technique that draws you to her paintings and invites you to step in.

"I'm not an artist. But everyday I would see her working," commented Ruth Blount, Gade's friend and English tutor, when talking about Gade's painting "Peace." "I had no idea that underneath this is layer after layer of different colors. It start- ed off at first with shades of pink and orange and yellow. I went away for a few days, and when I came back I thought she had changed her mind. But it was just the process of getting those shades. It blew me away. I had just assumed an artist would start with greens and blues and yellows to do that. She said, no, to get the warmth, she had to do it that way. It was so neat to see the process." It is Gade's colors and her brushstrokes that give the painting a feeling of serenity, a serenity that comes from her beliefs and her faith.

In a recent art show at the fellowship hall of the Summer Street Church at 4 Trotter's Lane, Gade debuted a wall of 16 connected paintings titled "The Dwelling Place." Each 8" x 8" square stands on its own but the collection as a whole is breathtaking. "There were 16 paintings that went together," explained Blount as she viewed the paintings on the church's Web site, summerstreetchurch.org. "The whole wall was covered, it was so phenomenal, and they were all blended together. But there was no way that anyone could buy all 16 and have a wall that big! So Gade separated them into a few singles and a few series."

The beauty of Gade's paintings does not stop at the canvas, however. Gade has donated the proceeds from the sale of the originals and prints of the paintings to the Hosean International Ministries. "The thing that touches me most is that when Gade said she wanted to do this, she wanted the entire proceeds, everything, to go to a school in Haiti," marveled Blount. "I just think that is so touching. I mean 100 percent. She worked for months on these paintings. It's a continuing fundraiser that Gade is leaving."

According to literature from the Summer Street Church, which has partnered with HIM, "Hosean International Ministries was founded in 1984 in Pignon, Haiti by Caleb Lucien, a Haitian national. HIM offers residents opportunities to improve their lives physically, spiritually and emotionally as it works in the community of Pignon." Summer Street Church has underwritten for more than 40 children, including a book bank to provide academic books for each child in grades one through nine. In addition, they have provided supplies and work teams for construction of a new wing of the school.

Gade's current series of paintings is based on scriptures that have held meaning for her. "The Hiding Place" took form after a fearful night listening to a violent storm. "It is some feeling that I got in the morning under the blanket," she explained, her hands a fluid mirror of the swirling colors. "There had been a terrible storm the night before. I was scared, yes, and I prayed and covered myself like this and I finally slept. When I woke up in the morning I saw the light come through my blanket, and it's that new feeling, so warm and beautiful under there." The scripture that accompanies the painting is Psalms 4:8, "I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety."

Her paintings of Nantucket capture the indistinct lines of a foggy day, the surreal quality of this island. It is a contrast to the vivid colors of "The Dwelling Place" and "The Hiding Place." "It depends on what I am feeling in that period of time," explained Gade when asked about the range and intensity of her colors. "Just like these paintings, it has no light and the color is so foggy. The new pictures I make are bright, but these are so muted and darker. It depends on what is happening inside of me."

Gade left yesterday to travel back to Thailand to be with her mother and two sisters. She hopes to continue her travels and would like to visit Europe and Asia. Her philosophy can be summed up in the scripture attached to "The Dwelling Place" - Lamentations 3:22, 23, "His compassions never fail. They are new every morning. Great is your

faithfulness." I

- Sopist "Gade" Lertwongprasert's artwork can be viewed at the Summer Street Church Web site, summerstreetchurch. org. Prints can be purchased from the site, and 100 percent of the proceeds will be funneled to the Hosean International Ministries.