“Hidden Strength”
In this painting I wanted to convey a feeling of darkness. I used a two tone effect of purples, grays, pinks and black. Painting a night scene can be tough and especially if you want to convey a specific feeling. I was going for mysterious and vast.
The setting is a desert during a storm where not much can survive. There are no other trees in the image only a few scraggly shrubs and rocks. The focal point is the tree that is large and healthy. How did the tree survive and what is the source of its strength?
Sometimes when life seems hard and dark we rise up out the hard place and thrive. The tree grows from the rock. The obstacle is the source of the strength. When life presents challenges sometimes our strength is found in the challenge and difficulty. Our beauty can come from our ugliness, our greatest joys are found in our deepest sorrows.
This image represents the paradox of life. Out of despair comes hope, our strength is vulnerability. The lightning flashing in the background offers illumination as well as the strange moon casting a pall on the tree. There is always light when there is darkness even if that light is perceived to be a threat. I like exploring ideas of paradox and seemingly impossibly scenarios.
This image presents two impossibles. The first is that a tree can grow entirely from a rock or stone, the second is the illuminated moon in a cloudy and stormy sky. Sometimes the impossible can happen. Sometimes we discover in ourselves a strength that cannot be explained.
