Week 23. "Wisdom and Knowledge" 36"x48" oil on canvas

First let me say thanks to all of those of you who have been taking time to follow along as I post a new painting every week. Thank you also for the supportive feedback. It is truly wonderful to know that my work is being seen and appreciated. Finishing a painting every week is not easy (especially when the canvas is 36"x48", very daunting at the beginning of the week) but I must say that I'm enjoying it. One thing I'm learning as I push myself to get the work done is that there's no time to wait to be inspired. It's possible that inspiration may eventually strike while I'm sitting on the sofa waiting for lightning to strike. But if I just get to work, feeling inspired or no, I realize several hours later that the inspiration was there all along.

As to this weeks painting I can only say that it's nice when wisdom and knowledge work together but they are by no means the same thing. Wisdom is generated from within and knowledge is found without. Wisdom works just fine by itself. But knowledge without wisdom, as a Nigerian proverb has it, is like water in the sand.

“True wisdom comes to each of us when we realize how little we understand about life, ourselves, and the world around us.”Socrates

True wisdom is less presuming than folly. The wise man doubteth often, and changeth his mind; the fool is obstinate, and doubteth not; he knoweth all things but his own ignorance. -- Akhenaton

My embodiment of wisdom is a woman, accepting and pregnant with ideas. Knowledge is there, behind her, represented by three figures that could be some sort of clerics or scholars. They are important, but wait, watch out boys! Bow your heads when wisdom is appears.