Proclaim the Day— Coming Soon to Principle Gallery
By the side of the everlasting Why there is a Yes–a transitory Yes if you like, but a Yes.
― E. M. Forster, A Room with a View
I don’t know how many of us actively wonder why we are here or if we have any special purpose in this life. I think many, the lucky ones, just accept the deal as is and go on about their daily lives without giving it a thought. Maybe whatever purpose they possess is so unquestionably ingrained in them that they don’t have to think about it.
I envy those folks some days, as much of my life has been filled with uncertainty and questioning. Constant wondering and restlessness about the why and who of myself in this world. I felt like I must have some purpose, something that would potentially allow me to bellow out my eternal Yes. A proclamation of my existence much like Whitman’s barbaric yawp.
Fortunately, painting, and subsequently the Red Tree, showed up for me, giving me some small sense of purpose. Or at least the vehicle that I could ride to it. Purpose, it seems, is a fair distance out and many folks get tired, turning back before reaching it. For me, the Red Tree served as a private plane to my purpose, one fueled by imagination.
It gave me a means of symbolic expression that allowed me to proclaim my existence, my eternal Yes, now and in the future. And the fact that many folks see their own eternal Yes in this symbol is deeply gratifying, making me think that my purpose is in sight.
That’s much of what I see in this new painting, Proclaim the Day. It’s about holding true to your sense of purpose and self-identification though the winds may sometimes rattle your limbs and make you feel unsteady.
Even in the face of howling adversity, your eternal Yes can still ring out over the hills and rivers of the land.
The day is yours.
Proclaim the Day is 20″ high by 30″ wide on canvas. It is included in Continuum: The Red Tree at 25 which opens Friday, June 14, 2024 at the Principle Gallery in historic Old Town Alexandria, Virginia. There is an opening reception that evening which I will be attending so stop in and bellow out your eternal Yes.
Speaking of the eternal Yes, here’s a classic song from Neil Diamond that directly addresses that in a very existential way. This is I Am…I Said. The Red Tree could very well be singing this song in the painting at the top.
Redtree Times 