January is usually a month of probing for me, a time of looking for a direction in which to move, work-wise. Sometimes it’s a struggle and sometimes it comes more easily. I’ve written recently about a feeling of being on a plateau with my work, one that has been my home for quite some time now and one from which I am beginning to feel anxious to move above. This plateau feeling has made this January searching more of a struggle than normal, as though I were a rock climber faced with a sheer cliff before me and can’t quite make out my next move. I am just standing there looking for an edge in the rock face to find a hold that will me to pull myself up.
Maybe it’s that analogy that brought about this new piece, Mountains to Climb, a 12″ by 12″ canvas. It features a swirling sky and a more prominent peak beyond the foothills that have been a fixture in my typical work, There’s an alluring quality to tall peaks that can’t be denied. It is both a question and a challenge that stands between you and the horizon: Do you have the will and the ability to climb higher?
It’s a question that still rings in my ears as I stand before my own personal mountain. I think I have my answer and I am beginning to see a way upward, a first hold to pull myself up.
We shall see…
Redtree Times 