Between heaven and the first sip — this is where he lives.” “Old enough to have wings. Smart enough to drink his coffee first.

The Becoming Series

This work is part of the Becoming series — a collection of more developed, larger paintings that expand on ideas first explored in the Field Notes.

The Becoming Series is an ongoing body of work exploring personal evolution through a symbolic visual language of animals, bones, and recurring marks.

These paintings are not meant to instruct or define, but to hold space — quiet, emotionally open environments where viewers can safely explore vulnerability, resilience, and the process of becoming themselves.

Each piece exists as part of a larger conversation shaped by themes of awareness, confession, and transformation. Symbols appear and reappear as a kind of visual shorthand.

This is not a fixed series, but a living one.

Description

This original 12 x 16 inch painting was created by Jim Faris in his Washington, D.C. studio, The Make-Shift Studio.

Acrylic, ink, watercolor, and mixed media on stretched canvas.

Unframed. Signed. One of a kind.

Each piece in this evolving body of work draws from a developing symbolic language:

Crown = self ownership

Equal sign = awareness

Plus / Multiply = growth

X = mark of choice

Arrow = direction

Key = access

Bone = vulnerability

Skulls / ribs = mortality & fragility

Some works include subtle metallic elements that shift with light — small moments of awareness that reveal themselves as you move.