Week 5. "Generations" 36"x48" oil on canvas

One of the things I hope to accomplish this year, while I push myself to finish a painting a week, is to create a series of work using "Icon of Nature, Part II" (see week 1 in this blog) as a starting point. This idea was foremost in my thought as I sought out what to paint for this week. What happened was that this image, almost fully fledged, appeared in my mind's eye and more or less demanded to be let out. I sketched it out and then turned it into a painting. There are some things that are similar to "Icon...partII" and some very real differences. The palette and the technique are the same. However, the figure in "Icon..." is practically godlike. She is of human dimensions and larger than life. She is serene in the midst of the cycles of life swirling around her. Here, however, the figures are very human. They are frail, small and subject to the passage of time. The earth around them seems to have become an ocean none too peaceful, but they seem to be on solid ground for the moment. Rain is coming soon or has just passed. Still, theirs' is a beautiful world. There is sunshine. Whatever may be in their past or in their future, they are able to enjoy the now. Shall they squirrel away their nuts or try for the light?