Painting: ‘Changes’
Painted for Sarah Latham, Autumn 2002
For Sarah: This painting and its symbols represent a period in your life where you are governed by change. I hope it will serve to remind you that you are strong and talented and that you can always direct your destiny to create the life you want. All changes can be good, if you make the most of them.
The focus of the painting is the snake. The Australian Aboriginals associate the snake or Rainbow serpent with lightning, earthly wisdom and pregnancy. Seen as the ‘creator’, the serpent is their symbol of the feminine, fertility and regeneration. Women and snake together are considered holy, because both embody the power of life. Snakes are also an ancient Greek and Egyptian symbol of female power
The Ouroboros (a snake biting itself in the tail) symbolises the continuity of life and intimates that each ending in a perpetual renewal, corresponds to a new beginning.
The snake in this painting therefore represents the never ending change that happens, and how in your life, change has happened in practically every area of your life at once. The flows of colour and pattern represent the different facets of your life, both large and small, simple and complicated, that have converged into one big cycle of change and have emerged on the other side.
The snake, representing the cycle of change and your ‘feminine’ ability to manage the change, ensures that you continue to live these facets of your life in a slightly transformed, but no less important and satisfied way.
The footprints represent your individuality and the mark you leave on the world and those around you. As they walk through the cycle of change, they come out on the other side unchanged and show that you continue to be the same strong and unique individual.
As a ‘mini’ adventure, this would read:
“Chick faces demons, kicks ass, conquers all and lives to fight another day”
Hoorah for Girl Power!