"So the cliff looms large, leads to a waterfall/rocks all around, to crack bones like sticks/diamonds are forged, in the furnace mother earth, shining with brilliance, direct me to that path." (Excerpt)
Those words were not written by me before I painted this painting in 2004, but they reflect an internal struggle within me to this day, and within a lot of people I imagine, about risk taking - also about the insecurities of failing and not living up to others' expectations...of constantly pushing the envelope and making life unnecessarily difficult. Themes of the human condition provide endless opportunities for creative exploration for an artist. It's not always well received, though, and not typically the most marketable material; but for me, it has always been the most satisfying to paint.
Now, one might look at this painting and read into it some undercurrent of disdain - sacrilege. Obviously, when I painted this, I thought that might create a stir - here the risk - but in the end, conveying the message that the miracle of life is how often we are held aloft by Providence even while diving off of the "metaphorical" rocky cliffs - how this is even necessary to grow spiritually - well, in the end, this was the struggle I wanted this painting to explore.
"It's true I guess, there's peace with no ripple/when you don't skip stones, the water is a mirror/pushing the comfort limit, is risky business/failing to push at all, you get no-where."
Against the Flow
This painting is sold and no prints are available.