Each new painting begins with just that inner compulsion to create. As I settle into my controlled style of painting, each piece evolves, not from the head but from the heart……
Within this painting the mountains speak of strength, stability and adventure, that desire which lives in most of us to seek-out what lies ahead, it is also the path to our higher selves, the level we need to reach for in the development of our inner-selves, our spirit.
The surrounding hills have no trees, instead their formations are covered with richly-coloured mosses. The piles of granite-rock look bare and un-yielding and yet, life-giving waters stream from their forms.
The gnarled tree has come to the end of its life, but its roots are still deeply buried into the earth and, its branches reach-up into the sky in a gesture of the life it once held. Yet from this trees death comes life. The vines use its solid form to support their young tendrils, fungi feeds on it bark and, hanging from its branches are the pomegranates, a symbol of the womb and fertility.
The rocks at the rivers edge, solid in their mass and strength, contrast with the fast-flowing water, reflecting the stability and security we all need as we flow from day-to-day, birth to death.
In a world where we are constantly encouraged to be dissatisfied with what we have or who we are, all of the above speak of the strengths, qualities and beauty that each and everyone of us bring to this world.
At the centre of this stands the Earth Goddess, a representative of the female energies found in all things. She is gentleness, compassion, nurturing, understanding and commitment. She is all things we wish to find within our own selves. She wears gold and gem-stones , symbols of the Earths great richness, not just in mineral wealth but in all it offers us. Her garland of leaves is just as important to her as her necklace of gold. Her energies inter-mingle with the energies of the Earth. Emphasizing how we are all connected to one another, she shows us how we need to harmonize our earthly-lives to give strength to our spiritual selves………
Carol Ann O’Connor
“Interwoven Lives”
