10 Year Anniversary: The Painting Diary 19 of 30
Painting Diary 19 of 30: Regeneration, 2017
In early 2017 I had the opportunity to go to Peru for a series of very intense plant medicine ceremonies. It was the first time I had gone to the jungle for any reason. What an experience that was! Over the top in every way, from the travel experience to the inward experience…
When I returned, the very first thing I did was rent an art studio space down in Georgetown, Seattle. It was a really cool space to create in and just a few minutes from my house. I could spread out and work as big as I wanted, and I did make some whoppers there. We were open for monthly art walks too, it was just what I needed at the time to go deeper into my commitment to painting full-time and was a marvelous way to connect to other artists and art lovers.
This painting was started live at Imagine Music and Arts Festival in 2017 and finished the following week at the new studio. That year the whole west coast was shrouded in smoke; Seattle from all the forest fires in BC, and half of California was burning. I didn’t experience California personally but Seattle looked like a post-apocalyptic scene and going outside was ill advised. I decided that I wanted to make a topical painting about the burning earth and smoke all around me. I was feeling grim and powerless and all I could do was get it out in a painting. This is NOT a message-painting, crying out to raise awareness. It’s a prayer.
The pine cone featured here is a jack pine. A cone that only opens in the event of a forest fire. The heat from the fire melts off the cone’s protective exterior resin and allows it to open and spread it’s seed. The cone here is shooting rays of cheesy hope. I might have taken it a bit too far, but it seemed like a good idea at the time, and I do like how it turned out. In most of my paintings I’m exploring life and death in nature, and the balances of nature. This one is no exception.. It’s about renewal. It’s about death giving way to new life. It’s about hope in the face of catastrophe.
Regeneration, Acrylic on board, 2017