This piece explores the vulnerability of being deeply in love. At the centre of the composition, two hands cradle a human heart, holding it with tenderness and responsibility. The gesture represents placing the most fragile parts of ourselves into another person’s care: our trust, softness, fears, and sense of self. To love fully is to allow ourselves to be deeply changed by someone else. It is a form of surrender, embracing both the beauty and uncertainty of being completely open.
Painted on a circular canvas, the composition has no true beginning or end, reflecting the cyclical and all-encompassing nature of love. It moves through us, returns to us, transforms us, and asks to be renewed again and again. Behind the heart, rays of light radiate outward, symbolizing the intensity of a love that feels illuminating, a love that shifts how we see ourselves and the world around us. The circular form allows this light to expand in every direction, suggesting that love reaches beyond just individual and becomes something larger than the self.
Gold is woven throughout the painting, connecting the heart, butterflies, hands, and outer edge of the canvas. It represents the warmth, value, and reverence that love brings into our lives. Beneath it, layers of pinks, blues, greens, and purples move together, reflecting the joy, discomfort, excitement, fear, vulnerability, and devotion that come with giving yourself to another person. The butterflies surrounding the heart symbolize the nervous anticipation and transformation that love can bring, while the word “love,” tattooed across one hand, serves as a reminder that love is something we must choose to practice and protect.
Ultimately, this painting is about the sacred risk of loving another person. To love is to offer something delicate and irreplaceable, trusting that it will be held with gentleness. It is an act of courage, faith, and surrender.
For The Love
"For The Love"
Michelle Johnston
July 2026
Acrylic paint and oil pastel on canvas
8 inches (Round)
My Proccess
This piece was created for my best friend. Throughout my time in nursing school and through the many moments of uncertainty, self-doubt, and personal growth that have come with it, they have been one of my greatest sources of support. They have encouraged my creativity, offered advice on my paintings, and reminded me to trust myself when I questioned my own abilities.
When creating this piece, I wanted to make something that captured not only the feeling of loving someone, but also the vulnerability that comes with allowing yourself to be known by another person. The image of hands holding a part of you felt like a natural representation. The act of placing your soul, your fears, and your entire self into someone else’s care.
The idea of the heart was heavily influenced by studies. The heart is the organ responsible for sustaining life, continuously pumping blood throughout the body and allowing every other system to function. It is a symbol of both survival and connection. It is the force that keeps us alive, it moves us, shapes us, and brings us closer to one another.
Originally, I envisioned the heart collapsed within the hands, appearing almost completely vulnerable and surrendered. However, after receiving feedback that the form was unclear, I decided to bring the heart upright, almost like a floating figure held gently between the hands. Looking back, this change was more aligned with the piece. The heart was not meant to be a collapsed form; it was meant to be supported and transformed.
In many ways, this change reflects what I believe love can do to you. The right kind of love does not diminish or consume us; it encourages us to grow. It supports us through uncertainty, reveals parts of ourselves we may not have discovered on our own, and helps us become more fully who we are. In this way, it felt almost poetic that a heart that began to collapse eventually grew into something stronger and lifted.
This piece is titled "For the Love" because, while there are romantic symbols, its meaning is beyond only romantic love. The piece really represents all forms of love, the love found in friendships, family, and in our connections with the world that hold us together. In an almost spiritual way, it depicts a complete and unconditional love that supports without judgment, that does not need to be earned, and that allows us to feel safe.
Although the actual painting time for this piece was only a few hours, I worked on this piece over several months. I found myself repeatedly getting trapped in my own thoughts, unsure of what direction I wanted to take. A large part of that hesitation stemmed from a desire to create something impressive. Knowing this piece would be gifted to an artist and displayed in a home surrounded by artists made me feel pressure to create something that was “good.”
I initially approached the piece using only acrylic paint, attempting to create something polished. However, I eventually reached a point where I found myself continuously painting over the same areas, trying to force the piece into something it was not meant to become.
Eventually, I set that expectation aside and introduced oil pastels into the process. I allowed myself to experiment with colour, texture, and shape without worrying about whether every decision was correct. I moved between acrylic paint and pastels, layering and reworking the piece until I stopped trying to control the outcome and allowed the piece to develop naturally.
Looking back, the process itself became a reflection of the painting’s meaning. Love is not something that can be perfectly controlled or planned. It requires vulnerability, trust, and the willingness to let something change you. By allowing myself to let go of perfection and embrace the uncertainty of the creative process, the painting became something much more meaningful than what I originally imagined. It became something honest and personal, something full of love.