Did Anyone Notice? Painting

When I painted the last brush stroke on this canvas and stepped back to assess its finalization I heard and felt a “whoosh.” I was shocked because I don’t paint soundscapes. I had never heard a sound from any painting, but this sound was vividly clear and I can still remember it. I could probably even recreate the sound on my piano interior or with a bucket of water near a river. The other element of this painting is that it feels, to me, like a memory, not a concept. I have always been troubled by the biblical story of genesis. The warning in that myth never made sense to me. “Do not eat from the tree of knowledge lest ye shall die” is a warning that is troubling in its deception and lack of logic. First, how can death be something to avoid if one doesn’t know what it is? Secondly, if one knows what death is, and it is something to be avoided by “not knowing” then knowledge is being mocked for its contribution to the avoidance of death. The catch-22 of the warning never made sense until I considered the emotion of shame associated with the consequence of the tale. Shame is not something that I support, practice, condone, encourage, or want. My own experiences with shame are mostly that of being mocked by others, condemned by others, or rejected by others. I hate the way shame feels. Yet, I don’t own victimization, alone. Those who are hurtful are still victims to shame because they use shame to try and make themselves feel better all along fooling themselves that they are not what they jeer at. I would guess that most everyone older than a newborn baby has suffered all 3 emotional experiences of mockery, condemnation, or rejection. My painting is not offering a cure to the presence of shame, rather it is calling attention to victimization and how shame is the key to being free of cruelty. In my painting I change the quote into a thought that is talking to itself inside the tree of knowledge growing from the roots of the tree upward into the branches of moving consciousness/leaves of thoughts that also symbolize consequences that are blown by the wind or drop to the ground. The fruit of these consequences is knowledge, experience, wisdom, that give increased value back to sentient awareness and contain seeds to grow more trees. The warning that leads to shame is the emotion of fear, “don’t because it might be bad.” That intent is an expression of value for one’s self, but deceptive in its projection of belief that there is an enemy lurking within one’s own consciousness. Shame is the awakening to the deception of this fear. The fear of “knowing/meeting thine enemy” is the victimization to the belief in an enemy; yet the enemy is yourself. Shame, if you can get past the horrid feeling of its mocking victimization offers a new perception of sentient consciousness disguised as mocking humor. If the enemy is your own sentient consciousness, it certainly would be ludicrous to see it as an enemy.

Painting:Oil on Canvas

Original:One-of-a-kind Artwork

Size:48 W x 36 H x 0.5 D in

Delivery Time:Typically 5-7 business days for domestic shipments, 10-14 business days for international shipments.