This Painting Is Finished: ‘Pearl’

I’ve been working on the big canvas and putting the final touches to it. 

When I paint, water is vitally important, it’s the creator of these paintings as much as I am.  The weather has been dry for days and luckily, I haven’t needed rain to paint.  Nothing but crisp frosts that lasted all day, day after day, receiving a fresh layer of crispness each night.  But today, I asked sacred water to let rain fall for my painting, I asked for a gentle, soft and light rainfall before dusk. 

Well, it came, just a little late, after dusk.  Not to worry, the top deck of my garden, right outside my glass sliding doors has lights, so I was able to take my canvas out into the mystical night air and let sacred water play with the minerals.  It’s a careful procedure, I need just the right kind of rain, depending on the effect I’m after, no wind and to judge just how long to leave it out.  The results were just perfect.

I quite often don’t feel as though I’m the main creator of these paintings, they’re more a dance between sacred water and the minerals, or should I say crystalline consciousness, for that’s what pigments and paints are. I don’t have a plan, or if I do, it rarely happens in the way I intended. Making these paintings is an act of surrender, getting myself out of the way. I realise more and more that life is about that same thing.

I’m there to be the hand, waiting for guidance.  If I allow the guidance to be actualised, it’s easy and everything flows.  Sometimes, it flows so effortlessly, it’s like magic.  Actually, it is magic.  The magic of water and minerals and some consciousness greater than mine that always shows up.

So, here it is.  This painting is called ‘Pearl’.  You’ll find the pearl in question held in the rook’s beak.  The pearl is a symbol of wonder and beauty in overcoming adversities.  Have you noticed the way adversities bring riches that we would otherwise not have?  The way a pearl is created in response to a little piece of grit that causes discomfort to the mollusc.  So it is with us, when we see adversity as an opportunity bringing potential treasure.   

The rook itself, a member of the highly intelligent corvidae family, is expressing freedom and joy.

Finally, those piercing eyes look right into our soul, the eyes of the elder, the ancestor, the wisdom carrier. The one who knows, who is waiting and holding the lore for us.

‘Pearl’ is painted with natural pigments on canvas 91.4cm x 61cm. The monochrome effect with dark shading makes the face come alive at dusk. In daylight, the detail is plain to see but as the light dims, the whole painting, that face, those eyes, are somehow even more alive. The picture would look great in candlelight or set above a fireplace with flickering flames.