Stop looking outside for scraps of pleasure or fulfillment,
for validation, security, or love —
you have a treasure within that is infinitely greater
than anything the world can offer.
-Eckhart Tolle
**************
I call the new painting above Way of Peace. It is a 30″ by 40″ canvas that is now showing at the West End Gallery.
I am really drawn personally to this piece, very attracted by its peaceful quiet and the depth of its inviting warmth. I like the way the path leading into the scene seems to transform into a stream, as though there is a moment as one struggles along the path toward their own inner reality when resistance fades and it becomes easier to proceed ahead. Less struggle and more fluid and free flowing. More natural.
I think the words at the top from Eckhart Tolle mesh very well with the message I find in this piece. It is one that is a common theme in my work: that real discovery is found within our self. And I think this painting oozes with that message. It may seem to be a representation of the outer world and if that is how you see it and that satisfies your appreciation of the piece, that is perfectly fine. Absolutely nothing wrong in seeing it that way.
But for me, it is in fact an aspiration-based self portrait constructed on an inner landscape.
Sounds like a mouthful but it’s pretty simple at its heart. Think of what you might picture for yourself if someone asked you to paint a picture of of who you are or hope to be. Some might paint a straight portrait. I picture myself and my aspirations in the landscape and this piece is very much how I see it.
However, there are some miles to go before I get there…
Redtree Times 