‘Eternity’

Mixed media acrylic painting

When I was young, budding writer (published a novel when I was 19) and painter, things seemed quite complicated, requiring a lot of philosophical pondering; transcending mathematical axioms to interpersonal and societal relationships was daunting and sparked heated discussions in my, similary inclined, circles. Yet, now, from a distance of years, existential struggles behind, everything seems very simple. Somehow, instant understanding, brainless ‘gut’ feeling, makes ideas clear and simple.

‘Eternity’ is a woman, ageless, borne from seas and lands, an epitome of a fundamental existence, transcending time, forever young, a source of life, a divine. As simple as that…and no one can argue about her true existance – not even ubiquitously eternal mathematics!

‘Eternity’ is a big canvas, gallery scale, dwarfs even a big house. Painting ‘Eternity’ was an endeavor; my studio is small, I need a barn with my ambitions. Kneeling, bending, fretting into late nights, house taken over – it was infinitely satisfying talking to ‘Eternity’ as she emerged from the eternity…,symbols orbiting, seas and lands and skies colliding.

Is painting an emotional or intellectual process? Or serendipitously triggered subconscious? In some unexpected way, ‘Eternity’ was inspired by paintings of Andrew Wyeth I saw in the Farnsworth museum during our trip to Maine this spring…the connection that could not be obvious to most. Hence, it must be the gut, an instant association, not the brain, that triggers a painting urge…at least for me. Evoking the primal, emotional colors of archetypal memories, timeless, the eternity.