The cornucopia or horn of plenty, with profuse amounts of fruits and vegetables spilling from its end, is a pretty well known and well worn symbol of abundance and nourishment, seen often at this time of the year when the traditional harvest has taken place and we near our holiday of Thanksgiving here in the States. The cornucopia has been around for ages, going back into the classical mythology of the Greeks and Romans , but has been ingrained in the psyche of our culture and still resonates as a symbol.
Perhaps that is why the image of the cornucopia came to mind when I had finished this new painting, an 18″ by 36″ canvas that fittingly carries the title Cornucopia. When I looked at it it seemed that the landscape sat at the end of a spiralling cone that emerged from the sun here and the multicolored fields represented the bounty of the land that you see in a horn of plenty. The orchard on the lower left could be a group of apples spraying from the horn. The sky and sea shapes coming down to the saddle shape of the landscape reinforce this image, forming a horn-like shape. The Red Tree could be a bunch of grapes or simply the recipient of this abundance, serving itself up in gratitude to the sky.
I think this is a piece about gratitude, recognizing what the world has given you. We all too often focus on striving for more without seeing the gift before us that we have been given in the preciousness of the moment. Every day has a gift for us. Whether we recognize it is our own choice. That’s what I see here in the warmth and generous spirit of this painting.
This painting is also part of Alchemy, my solo show at Erie’s Kada Gallery which opens November 16th.
Redtree Times 