Painting: ‘Reflection’
Painted for Austin to mark a special Birthday and a period of change. December 2007
For Austin: This painting and its symbols represent your life to date and the changes you will make to it after this period of reflection. I hope it will remind you that it doesn’t matter what you do in life as long as every time you stop and think about it, you are happy. And if you are not, then remember that a change is easier then being unhappy.
Your journey starts with the semi-circular shape on the top left, with your journey flowing out in front of you. Along the way, you have resting points, that symbolise changes in your life or time to gather your thoughts.
Your life has continued in a logical and balanced way, moving forward evenly, suggesting that your life path has been ruled by your head. On the top right, you can see clouds surrounding your last period of reflection, causing you to assess your less than happy situation and driving you into a period of change, as your journey enters the Ouroboros on the right hand side.
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. Entering the Ouroboros means that you have entered into a period of change and this is where you are at present.
You will see that your emergence is less uniform, surrounded by the brown swirls that represent guts. In this painting, they also represent passion and the unruly nature of the bottom half of the picture, through which your footprints lead you, suggests that the next period in your journey may be ruled more strongly by your heart.
The presence of red through the painting symbolizes the influence of women in your life. Although important to you, they do not disrupt your journey, but rather add brightness to it.
Austin, this painting represents my sincere wish that you find a wonderful path forward and continue to work towards deep fulfillment.
Obviously, you can read what you like into it, or just hang it up and look at it now and again.
A big hug and kiss to a dear friend at a special time.