By health I mean the power to live a full, adult, living, breathing life in close contact with what I love — the earth and the wonders thereof — the sea — the sun. All that we mean when we speak of the external world. A want to enter into it, to be part of it, to live in it, to learn from it, to lose all that is superficial and acquired in me and to become a conscious direct human being. I want, by understanding myself, to understand others. I want to be all that I am capable of becoming so that I may be (and here I have stopped and waited and waited and it’s no good — there’s only one phrase that will do) a child of the sun. About helping others, about carrying a light and so on, it seems false to say a single word. Let it be at that. A child of the sun.
—Katherine Mansfield
October, 1922, Her final journal entry
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I came across this final journal entry from the writer Katherine Mansfield, who died much too early from tuberculosis at age 35, and thought how much her words fit what I was thinking about this newer painting shown above. I call this 30″ by 40″ painting Proclamation and the thought and feeling it may be proclaiming might very well be the same as those expressed by Mansfield.
It is a painting that speaks of coming to an understanding of one’s self and stepping forward in the light to show that true identity. It is at once flawed and beautiful. Flawed by the scars of attained wisdom and change. Beautiful because it is honest and real, open to the elements and all who look upon it. It has become, to use Mansfield’s term, a child of the sun.
I think it would be too easy to say too much here.
Let it be at that. A child of the sun.
Redtree Times 
“I want to be all that I am capable of becoming…”
Beautiful and inspiring.
Enjoying your work. The mystery seems to be in the elements that are not the focal point and are less solid. The trees and landforms are solid, the skies, vibrate – dance!
Thanks so much, Michelle.
And yet the word that most strikes me in the quotation is “adult”. We live in a society that seems intent on encouraging helplessness and dependence – a childishness that has nothing to do with becoming what Mansfield calls a child of the sun. The difference between becoming all that we are capable of becoming, and having our growth truncated is so significant.
That’s part of what makes certain of your Red Trees so striking. Even in obviously difficult settings, they’ve flourished and thrived.
That’s a really interesting observation, Linda. I never thought about how that term, “child of the sun”, actually had more reference to something more mature– adult, as you pointed out. My mind is turning! Thank you…
On Thu, Apr 3, 2014 at 10:13 AM, Redtree Times wrote:
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