Painting: ‘Destiny’
Painted for Bekki & Andrew as a belated wedding present , Feb 2007
For Bekki & Andrew: This painting and its symbols represent the relatively short period in both of your lives, where you met, met again and then embarked on a life together. My wish is that the painting will find a place in your home where it will remind you of the unexpected and entertaining nature of your first two meetings, that brought you more permanently together.
I hope remembering the way you met will always make you smile and help you believe in destiny.
The two lighter sections of the painting represent each of your lives. Notice that each section has a curly line, that represents the ‘guts’ of your individual circumstance. In these sections, there is also a dark footprint made by just one foot, representing your solitary journey.
The footprints travel into the separate section in the top left of the painting, where the white symbols represent two distinct meetings (These symbols are believed to represent the imprint that two people would leave if they were sitting on sand, meeting either side of a table) It was your first meeting in NZ and the second one in Melbourne, that sealed your fate and led you to consider a life together. The footprints travel into the Ouroboros in the middle of the painting.
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. In the act of walking towards the Ouroboros, after your two meetings, your footprints lead you into a period of change.
In your case, it was as a couple that you emerged, to walk side by side. The waves around your footprints on the bottom right of the picture show how the world seems to work in harmony with you, when you achieve balance in your life and commit to a definite direction.
Clearly, you can both read anything you like into the painting, or hang it up and enjoy it.
A belated “Congratulations” to you both, with all my love.