You belong in a field of wildflowers.
Creating
This image started with a senior photo session. We spotted a field of white flowers, but carried on with our location plans. At the following location, before even starting, we switched gears to trek out to those flowers. That’s where we both wanted to be.
I pulled this image specifically to use in my artwork. It’s sometimes hard to describe how I choose these portrait images, what makes me want to use an image for artwork versus edit them more traditionally. It must just be a feeling.
The same process, feeling focused, is at play when I choose the other image or images to work with. I scan through until I find something that catches my attention and start playing around. Sometimes, like in this case, it was the first image I tried. Other times, I try several images until it feels right.
Once I have my images, I experiment with different iPad apps to create something new. I like to experiment with altering or challenging the expected perception of something. In this case, I used the app iColorama to transform the straight horizon line into a wave. Here again, I tried several different things until something felt right or interesting.
Creating, for me, offers time to decompress and unload my subconscious. It is a way to release stored emotions in a way detached from words and explanations. Reflecting on the artwork provides an opportunity to make connections. How does what I see relate to me? Calling out details and connections in the image, I pay attention to what feelings arise in me when I name those connections. It is a metaphorical process, how is this like that? And how do I feel about that?
The philosopher Alva Noë writes, “art forces us to ask what is this thing that I see in front of me. If we ask this, we extend our minds and have experiences we would not otherwise have.”
Reflection
I start by describing what I see.
On one side I see a tidal wave. Tidal wave has a literal and a metaphoric definition. Tidal wave: a widespread or overwhelming manifestation of an emotion or phenomenon.
On the other side I see a girl in a field of wildflowers. I immediately think of Wildflowers by Tom Petty, and how that song makes me feel. It is a wish for someone to feel loved and at peace. This reminds me of a poem gifted from a friend:
‘Darling, you deserve it all. You deserve love and peace and magic and joy dancing in your eyes. You deserve hearty, deep belly laughter and the right to let those tears fall and water the soil. You deserve freedom and goodness and company and days of bliss and quiet too. You deserve you happy and healed and content and open. So keep going, darling. Keep going. Go realize into being the life you deserve.’
The contrast here is both stark and gentle to me. There is a definitive line between two opposing feeling tones but the colors and movement are cohesive and gentle. The lines of my painting help to connect the two. This image could be about transmuting experience. Transforming sorrow and pain into joy and forgiveness. It could be about healing. I get to reflect on how these themes are playing out in my life. I can let those tears fall. In doing this, I get to sharpen my attention and skill in transmuting.
‘Let those tears fall and water the soil.”
