Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence, and I learn, whatever state I may be in, therein to be content.
-Helen Keller
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This is a new painting that is headed with me to the Kada Gallery in Erie for the 1 PM Gallery Talk this coming Saturday, April 11. This 20′ by 24″ canvas is titled Comes the Light and speaks to a recurring theme in my work, our capacity to endure darkness and find peace within even in those times when we find ourselves immersed in the darkness.
Reading the quote above from Helen Keller, who knew darkness and silence more than any of us can imagine, after finishing this piece made me think about my reactions to my own periods of darkness, how it was often a period filled with fear and panic — manic flailing at things, most made greater in my imagination, that I could not see in the momentary blackness.
But time can be a great teacher and one learns that there is nothing gained in striking out at unseen demons. Patience and calm replace panic and fear when the realization comes that light usually follows the dark. It becomes easier to accept and endure the inevitable darkness that we all find ourselves in occasionally.
And that is what I see in the Red Tree here– an enduring figure who accepts the darkness calmly, knowing the light soon comes.
Redtree Times 