Bloom in Gold
Have you ever felt like life is a bit of a mess sometimes? Everything you planned didn't work out, somehow along the way you took wrong turns or made wrong decisions?
Yeh, if we are honest, we've all been there to varying degrees at some stage in our life, or perhaps we will in the future.
What Lays Underneath
When you look at this newly finished artwork, Bloom in Gold, it's hard to see that underneath the layers there is a dark, indistinguishable mess.
I actually started it on a 90x90cm canvas that already had layers of purples, dark blues and almost black paint on it. I love to paint on canvas that already has paint on because it adds much more interest to the finished piece. I like to put leftover paint on these canvases to build up texture layers for future paintings.
To be honest, at this first stage it looks a bit yuk and nothing like the finished artwork. It's hard to see anything good in the mess but I guess as an artist part of my task is to also be a visionary.
Gold Within
Taking my palette knife and my fingers, I apply thick luscious layers of colour. Complimentary colours like greens and reds/pinks when placed next to each other, sing!
Gold leaf is applied to the cracks between the paint as in the art of Kintsugi, where gold is used to fill the cracks in pottery making it the most beautiful part of the vessel.
Hope in the Future
Inspired by Monet's beautiful garden in France which I have visited several times, I never would have dreamed that I would visit such places. My life was not always like it is now; it was once a very big mess!
Broken down with burnout and adrenal fatigue which is very similar to Chronic Fatigue syndrome, I barely had the energy to function day by day. At that time I could see nothing for my future, my dreams were gone.
For Someone Special
As I painted this intuitive, abstract expressionistic artwork I really felt like this was especially for someone - perhaps even someone I don't know but if I did, I would tell them that even though they may see themselves and their life as a 'mess' that offers very little for their future, they are in fact like this painting with its shimmer of gold and colour.
They are beautiful!
There is Gold within you even in the dark messy times of life. Situations change, dreams can happen. What looks like a hopeless mess right now, can eventually if given time, bloom into gold and the good news is that each new day is a step closer.
'Gold in the Dark - Giving the Gift of Hope Through Art'
