One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree. Which road do I take? she asked. Where do you want to go? was his response. I don’t know, Alice answered. Then, said the cat, it doesn’t matter.
–Lewis Carroll
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Maybe I should call this new painting The Cheshire Cat Tree instead of The Moment of Decision, which is the title I gave to it. There is a sort of built-in grin in the curve of the lower path, as though it is all that remains after the Cheshire Cat has disappeared and the advice he offered Alice in the quote at the top seems to fit so well with anyone coming to any fork in the road. And the Red Tree offers only, like the Cheshire Cat, enigmatic advice and guidance at best for it knows that we alone are responsible for our decisions and the path that we will ultimately follow.
For me, this painting also has an interesting interplay between the direction of the two paths, the lower one being more earthly and the other heading upward toward a light filled horizon and the heavens above. It seems to break the painting in two parts, opposing forces that co-exist in harmony. Yin and yang.
Just a thought.
The Moment of Decision is 24″ by 36″ on canvas and will be part of my show at the Kada Gallery in Erie, PA opening December 5.
Redtree Times 