A Sentient World

Dear Reader,
In this little painting of a protea I continue my experiments with a limited pallet. The colours I’ve used are ultramarine blue, pthalo green, cadmium yellow medium, cadmium red medium, and white. I’ve tried to simplify and mute the background by using blues, blue-green and muted purples to suggest spatial depth within the picture plane, while bringing attention to the bright red petals with white, feathery edges. Those feathery edges are such a contrast to the stiffer, almost leathery texture of protea petals and leaves. It’su almost like the petals have eyelashes while the protea looks out into the world. I wonder what that protea sees?

The other day I heard a mournful ballad on the radio that was sung from the viewpoint of a dying tree. The river could no longer support it. It seems to me that the sentient world that we are part of has so many different viewpoints. Sometimes I try to imagine into those viewpoints that aren’t human and what those beings might feel.

For instance, if I imagine my eye as the protea, I know that I am an ancient being, slowly opening and noticing a world traveling with great speed. I’m reminded of me, Lynn, feeling big and slow while looking down on the life of ants. Through imagination my sense of space and time is altered. Now when I look at this painting I’m aware of ‘protea perspective’. I love that paintings offer us a doorway into other viewpoints and our imagination is the key. As cut flowers proteas last a long time. I’ve just discovered that according to Wikipedia proteas are named after the Greek God Proteus ‘who could change his form at will’. Proteus is a shapeshifter and through such an imaginative practice our world is enriched.

The above painting is painted in acrylic on primed Fabriano paper.
It measures approximately 18cm X 18cm (7″ X 7″) and is available on my website in the Available portfolio.

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lynnlobo.com