Reflections
48 x 36 x 3 acrylic on wood panel
The ecological story- Cardinals in blooming magnolia branches. Cardinals and magnolias have a symbiotic relationship. Cardinals eat the tough protein rich seeds of the magnolia. Cardinals build their nests and the dense year-round foliage of the magnolia tree. They help to keep insect populations in the tree in balance, as well as helping to spread it seeds.
The human connection- As I painted the mirrored images in this composition, life lessons kept playing across my mind. Recently, empathy has had a stronger presence in my perception. Perhaps once you’ve lived long enough or made enough mistakes, when you see others making the same mistakes, you’re overwhelmed with empathy and understanding rather than judgment. And while none of us is a carbon copy of the other, just like in this painting, reflecting images look identical, but as you look more deeply, there are many facets in each that are unique, humans are unquestionably different but so much the same. We tend to find the same stumbling blocks. At this point in my life, when I see someone behaving in a way that’s not kind or that I would consider unenlightened, my mind ricochets to a time when I made a similar mistake. This feels truer than judgement and deeper than scrutiny.
