Sunday, November 20, 2016

Autumn Oak 1; Henry Moore; The secret to happiness.




Autumn Oak 1 
oil  16" x 20"

"The secret to happiness is to have something in one's life that one cannot possibly do,
yet one cannot stop being dedicated to trying to do it."
Henry Moore

How can one land on what is important in life and what can be held at bay? What is it that keeps us going - a source of our happiness? Henry Moore spoke to the answer eloquently, to work at something we love with a goal that cannot be reached. The task of making painting for me is one of confronting a complex, chaotic visual reality and struggling to bring a cohesive understanding out of it. Sometimes the things most dear, the everyday things one is most comfortable with regain their newness or we regain the wisdom to see them anew.   These ancient oaks stand all around our home and over 200 years or so they have been witness to the history of this place. I walk under them every day that I go over to the studio. This fall I have a new respect for living things with such a long lasting perspective. So I will do what I do - try to bring my vision of these things that anchor me and that bring me happiness found in the all encompassing process. Enjoy!