I kept having this image in my mind of a woman sitting on a branch way up high in this gigantic tree, back-lit by yellow sunshine, and surrounded by a flock of birds in motion. So I painted it!
This situation makes me feel part panicked and part inspired by the beauty of it, so it seems a fitting painting to share with you at the start of this new year!
Just Go With It. 20″ x 20″, Oil on Canvas, © 2016 Cedar Lee
My family all agreed, when they saw the painting, that the woman is me. I didn’t intend her to be, necessarily, but it seems that often when I paint a woman she turns out looking a little like me, and I admit I can see it too.
So it’s me. And I’m alone, naked, up in this tree, with these rioting birds flapping all around my head. I can hear the birds calling all around me and far up above me. It’s springtime, with the tree erupting in yellow blossoms. I guess I ended up here through a series of choices, and collisions of random circumstance.
Will I find a way to climb higher, build a grand tree house at the top and make this tree my home? Will I scoot to the end of the branch and jump to the safety of the ground? Will the birds carry me away? Will I turn into a bird and learn to fly on my own?
Close-up Detail: Just Go With It. 20″ x 20″, Oil on Canvas, © 2016 Cedar Lee
Do you ever look around at your life and think, “How did I get here?” Well, it doesn’t really matter. The more important question is, “What’s next?”
So, wherever you find yourself at the moment in your life, I hope you’ll make the best of 2016, and have a happy new year!