Shining light into darkness

Two little girls take off in a hot-air balloon to go “up into the mystery where other worlds await.”

A little boy picks a bouquet of bluebells for his mother in a “mystical glade.”

A girl tangled in yarn is rescued by “soft white doves” that carry her up into the “sapphire sky.”

These are some of the dreamlike narratives that painter and mixed-media artist Amy Grimes depicts using both words and pictures in her first book, “And The Light Comes In” — a 36-page work meant for children and parents.

Grimes, who self-published “And The Light Comes In” in 2015 and expects to release a second book in November, is a visual artist who also has a long-standing obsession with And The Light Comes In.

She uses narrative shorts, in conjunction with her paintings, to stimulate the reader’s imagination, allowing them to fill in the rest of the stories.

The overall theme of her work, according to her website, is “light shining out of the darkness,” meaning Grimes seeks to use her art to give people a sense of joy, hope and possibility in a sometimes-bleak world.

Grimes, who grew up in Vestavia Hills and Leeds and lives in Inverness with her husband, Russ, and their two daughters, is a full-time artist completely absorbed in her work.

“I paint all day long,” she said. “I love doing it.”

And she said she loves stories just as much.

“For me, it all starts with a story,” Grimes said.

These twin obsessions were nurtured when Grimes was a child. 

She fell in love with beautiful art books, including the work of early 20th-century painter and illustrator Maxfield Parrish.  

She was deeply influenced by Scottish fairytale writer George MacDonald, as well as the stories of C.S. Lewis and Madeleine L’Engle.

“Stories have had a bigger impact on me than people,” she said. 

She also took advantage of the quiet place where she spent her teen years, a relatively undeveloped area near Leeds where she moved with her parents and brother when she was 12 years old.

There were few neighbors and no TV reception, leaving Grimes and her brother to entertain themselves.

“That had a lot to do with me doing as much art as I do,” she said.

Grimes graduated from Auburn in 1997 with a major in psychology and an art minor.

She began her career by painting portraits but found her voice when she combined the paintings with her story fragments.

“People seemed drawn to it, because I think people want to know what a painting means,” she said.

Grimes doesn’t usually tell entire stories. She merely describes a situation, something to stimulate the viewer’s imagination.

“I am giving them a little bit of a story,” she said. 

However, she said her next book, “Lucilla & the Snarly Skeins,” will be a complete narrative.

Her husband — a graphic designer who also attended Auburn — is critical to planning and producing the books, according to Grimes.

“I couldn’t do it without Russ,” she said. “He does all the technical stuff.”

Much as she did in childhood, Grimes follows her own somewhat solitary path, one that centers on the imagination.

“I feel like I’ve spent most of my life someplace else,” she said. “I know more about a fairy-tale world than I know here. I am always drifting off.”

And she still taps some of the same sources of inspiration she did as a child, including the same books.

She also loves walking in nature, enjoying the trees and sky, and often prays as she walks.

“Sometimes I’m praying about something sad or something that doesn’t make sense, and a lot of times when I’m praying, a story will come into my mind,” she said.

Pictures usually come with the stories, according to Grimes. 

And the stories — some are complete, some are just beginnings, she said — have a great impact on her.

“I find so much encouragement in them,” she said. “Stories help you make sense of the world.”

Her mood can change almost instantly, according to Grimes.

“Even if I was down when I went out, I feel uplifted when I think of those stories,” she said.

Her immediate plans include selling her paintings at a couple of large art shows — Art in the Village at Crestline Sports Field on April 22 and Art on the Lake at Children’s Harbor on Lake Martin, May 27-28.

Grimes also will continue to sell her paintings in the form of prints and notecards.

She and her husband will continue to self-publish her books — though she said she plans to send some out to publishers.

And Grimes said she would like to someday win the Caldecott Award, the prestigious medal given annually to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children.

But no matter what, Grimes will keep making new work.

“I tell my husband, ‘I am not painting in order to retire. I am painting to paint,’” she said. “My plan is not to ever stop.”

And Grimes said she hopes her work can help people find a spark of hope in a sometimes-depressing world.

“There is so much sadness in the world, and I think everybody — myself included — would love to set up life in the happiest possible way, but you can’t,” she said. “No matter how you try, it will crumble, and you run into this stuff — sad things, hard things that nobody wants. It can feel you’re in a dark room you can’t get out of.”

But in art, in the imagination, lies hope, and Grimes has a strong sense of the audience she wants to reach.

“I am happy for anyone to enjoy the stories or painting, but the people I am thinking of, they need to see something hopeful and that can help them step outside of that really dark room,” she said. “That can be powerful.”

For more information about Grimes’ work, go to storypaintings.net.