A beach flower…so vivid and brilliant. It was just growing along a fence line between public and private property, spreading out onto the footpath, on a quiet street heading toward the sea. The flower fully facing toward the north – seeking the sun not wilting in the heat, embracing the salt laden air, the harsh sea winds and endless salty spray… as if to say, bring it on and see us thrive!
Beauty amongst the toughest conditions…I think so.
Here is a close up of my most recent painting – Unfinished Business. This is what you would see if you stood in front of it and looked at the very large, textured, mostly black painting of a cross, at my current exhibition.
If you touched it, you would feel the texture of paint layered on and dragged across the canvas… You might wonder why a cross? You might jump to a simple conclusion, rightly or wrongly. You might take a clue from the title. Or not. What unfinished business exactly? Whose unfinished business? Mine? Everyone’s? No-one’s? You might wonder if it is to do with a relationship (good or bad) with God or if it is a comment on Religion. You might wonder what it all means. Or not.
Crosses are an ancient symbol, used through all ages and by many cultures, although Christianity has certainly largely claimed the cross as its own. There are many forms from a simple cross to elaborate ones such as the Celtic cross and other variations of the cross from many cultures, religions and histories.
The simple cross is also an age-old symbol for a tree…which I rather like, given my abundant photography of and adoration of trees.
I like to speculate that two sticks bound together in a cross like fashion must have been one of the very earliest signs in human existence. Maybe once, when humans did dwell in caves and walked the earth like nomads, it meant “we are here”, or “you are safe here”. Maybe to find a cross was to know you were nearly home or maybe it was given as a token of love or for good luck? Or maybe a simple cross has always been associated with the dead, death, grief and loss? I don’t honestly know.
Maybe these are all ideas swirling through my subconscious? I like abstract for the very reason that what you see in a painting, is WHAT YOU SEE. No one else will see what you see.
Someone who looks at it in the future may have a much better understanding or a more insightful interpretation than I. Or maybe it will just speak to someone. Maybe that’s the ‘unfinished business’?
ps..This very large painting is exhibited (and for sale) at the RealTART Gallery, New Plymouth, New Zealand until Feb 1 2013. Pop in and see it if you get a chance and tell me what unfinished business meant to you .
Black Box Art Studio 
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