When I finished my degree some ten years ago, I made a pact to myself that I would produce one artwork per year, no matter what else I had going on in my life. I kept this up and although it was a struggle when I had my stores and styling work, it was very satisfying. This canvas above is one of them, and i completed it about 5 years ago. It stands approx. 2 metres by 1 metre and it is mixed media, with mostly acrylic, charcoal, and pastel as well as rose petals. It’s called ‘two to tango’ and I’m not sure what you might see, but it is two seahorses intertwined, back to back – one seahorse is in the wing of the other. Inside the two seahorse bodies is a woman’s figure bending backwards, with her hair cascading down to her feet. The writing on the bottom left says, “So I have a story to tell. It starts with love, that is, accepting suffering with your heart”. This is a reference to the Chinese character I have in the centre of the image which means ‘love’. But in Chinese, there are two loves I was taught – one without the heart symbol in the middle, and one with. True love, or ‘accepting suffering with your heart’ is with the heart (‘xin’) symbol which I included here. This symbol which I was taught about by a Chinese calligrapher many years ago, was an inspiration for many artworks over the years.
Seeing this artwork again the other day brought back lovely memories. My parents have kept it in a room above the bed I used to sleep in. Water reflections from the pool dance on the ceiling and instantly reminded me of my own dancing water reflections on the ceiling of le petit bateau in Amsterdam. It’s funny how the symbol of water seems to run so prominently through my life.
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Up next: Food glorious food! A new guest is about to arrive in the kitchen, so copy down Rach’s recipes while they are still up, and get ready for some more delicious recipes to come! You are gonna love this talented lass too, I just know it.
Beautiful, abundant and soulful hyppocampe. I hope you will be able to paint more than once a year.
August 21st, 2008 | #
This is a great promise to have with oneself. Please continue creating as the rest of us dream along with you. Thank you for sharing your art with us Pia.
August 21st, 2008 | #
C’est très très très beau.
August 22nd, 2008 | #
Pia-
Beautiful site/life/everything.
Thanks for sharing!
xoxo
gracie o
August 25th, 2008 | #
“So I have a story to tell. It starts with love, that is, accepting suffering with your heart”.
what a fabulous and inviting title to this beautiful piece! i cannot help myself but to desire you write more of the story…which draws me deep into the art.
September 2nd, 2008 | #