Reflection

Reflection, acrylic on wood

A vision and a story somewhat vaguely in my mind. I reach for my small sketchbook and start drawing. It was not the way I wanted. With another colour, I go over it and there it is.

Starting out with a sketch on the background and a whole lot of green. I don’t see it going very well, but I trust the process. Slowly I see the shapes and the places for detail.

I start painting the snake and search for a picture of an opal. The snakeskin glisters in my mind. I look for flowers I like and add them on. The smallest details seem easy and the bigger parts are a struggle. Ocean pearls flowers and jasmine blossom around.

The reflection is a little struggle as I try and try again. Look from afar and up close. It seems weird and almost impossible to finish. The water is circling and shows some kind of mirror.

There I am. I'm here. In the reflection, I see myself as no other. A body. A person. Not good or bad. It's what I make of it. It's what I see. There in the water, I am pure. There, in nature, I am myself. I am no one else. I can let it all slide away.

Everything that isn't mine. And everything that was once mine. The skin comes off. Old returns to the whole. And I. I'm left. Me as I already was. It feels new, but what I sense now has always been with me, within me.

The snake represents transformation as it slithers and sheds. It has the magical colors of opal and sparkles in the sun. Moon eyes look into the deepest parts of us and see our authentic energy flowing. The water only reflects the truth, without opinion or judgment. It's pure. There, within nature, the spirit is as it is. Real. The flowers bloom around. Because no matter how someone feels, beauty is always around us. We just have to open ourselves to it.

Thank you for staying.

If you are curious, you can buy the artwork here