Ocean of My Soul

Description

I painted “Ocean of My Soul” during a time of huge transition in my life in 2014 and this was a piece that evolved over many sessions as I played with the surface and watched the liquidy pigments merge and move and do their own thing. Coerce them I must not. I was no longer going to let others coerce me because I now yearned freedom. Freedom to express who I was and who I was becoming. My “I Am” or my “Truth”. This did and does not mean causing harm to others, after all oceans can be violent and water always, like Nature, needs to be respected. And that, I realised, was what I was yearning for too. Through the process of the painting, I began to learn, ultimately, that the respect I really needed was my own self-respect.

What does Ocean of My Soul say?

Honour your depths

Allow all your energies movement.

Breathe deep, in and out, just as the tide, ebbs and flows

Let your body be like water – calm – cool – flowing

We often link the colour blue to water but I chose the colour blue to express my voice and inner thoughts. I refused to feel shame for my feelings and beliefs. Letting everything out on the surface of the canvas felt cathartic as well as necessary and it strengthened my resolve.

This is a deeply textural painting because the surface is highly tactile. In addition, the quality of mark making provides visual interest too.