Honestly, I thought I would be farther along with this body of work than I am by this time of the year. Oh well.
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| 18 x 24 inch pre-stretched canvas Untitled watercolor & Ink |
One of my daughters thinks this piece is kind of creepy and it reminds her of a carnivorous plant from an old horror flick, like the venus fly trap. While the other called the painting, metamorphic and like a botanical centaur.
The carnivorous plant interpretation pleases me because a little research revealed that these plants (carnivorous) had to adapt, learn to feed and grow in poor soils in order to survive. Also they not only survived but evolved independently, over six times. This more than doubles the plants genera. Now that is an awesome metaphor in the making.
I also like the metamorphic and centaur interpretation. The centaur, which was a mythical creature, are often described as savage, drunken and lustful, a part of an untamed nature. This painting could definitely read as aggressively evolving and untamed in its efforts. Yet another great metaphor to build from.
I like them both.
What I see: (you know I don't explain my work very often, so mark this down)
a transformation of the tree into a flower, as it twists and pushes forward to become beautiful flowers. Your mind is encouraged to consider both the roots as darker and rough as they slither over and underground while the limbs begin to color with life as they open and flower, upward to the light. The roots, pulling from it the earth, nutrients they need for survival. Then as your eyes move upward, the flowers pull your eye into their vitality, their beauty as they appear to be straining toward a sky both blue and cloudy.
Some will like this piece of art other may feel uncomfortable and still others may see something altogether different. But the writer Lillian Smith's quote seems almost to have been written for this painting:
To find the point where hypothesis and fact meet;
the delicate equilibrium between dream and reality;
the place where fantasy and earthly things are metamorphosed into a work of art;
the hour when faith in the future becomes knowledge of the past;
to lay down one's power for others in need;
to shake off the old ordeal and get ready for the new;
to question,
knowing that never can the full answer be found;
to accept uncertainties quietly,
even our incomplete knowledge of God;
this is what man's journey is about, I think.
I love art!
Peace,
Valerie
