IN THE SHADOW OF MY FATHER - An allegory and the Heron1 - Limited Edition 1 of 65 Print

THE ORIGINAL IS FRAMED. www.ianandersonfineart.com POEM: Without a seed, an egg will not hatch A bird will not fly A man will not inquire for the reason why To explore the wonders of a different land Ignorance begs Dysfunctional Knowledge buried in a lazy hand Prejudice extolled A poisonous gland Like living the lie Australian, Arab, Russian or Jew American, Italian, Mexican Someone like you To enjoy another's delight in the wonders of life The culture of expression without fear and strife After birth to fly An African may never know another nations cry The Chinese will never understand the joy in Japanese art While prejudice is rooted in fear at the start And so in the birth of cultural pride Passion to inquire is a rocky ride Ignorance destroys a naturally beautiful thing Bitterness of heart Will loose its bling But childlike Without fear to learn A desire inquisitive To fly The bird will learn THE STORY: Dancing with joy is a pillar of heaven at seeing the success of another. I initially chose to paint this in oils but because my style is so detailed I could only paint about 6 to 10 paintings a year. The dilemma motivated me to choose to do the digital painting with acrylic enhancement and maybe do one oil painting from the series. As with "Dancing for JOY" I was videoing friends windsurfing at Rangiputa, Kari Kari Peninsula, Northland, New Zealand. Above a Macrocarpa tree to my left were strong guttural sounds of birds making sounds I have never heard before. The sounds were so unusual they challenged my dedication to the task at hand and I looked up, observed their habits and realized I had a new story to tell. Because of the strong wind, they seemed to be playing games in the air currents and then landing in the tree for periods of rest. That was it, I must satisfy my desire to capture images. As I watched I saw the pleasure they were experiencing and it seemed to me the life they were showing was a reflection of the glory God had placed in their character. I was hooked, and after a series of photos, this story begged to find a surreal edge to it with expressions of delight as when a child plays and is enjoyed by their delighted father. I made some inquiries and discovered the joy. It was the Herons mating dance, the pleasure of a species procreation instincts. No wonder the guttural sound was so distinctive. I will leave the rest to your imagination. Maybe you have experienced this emotion, when, either your natural father or your heavenly father's joy is noticed by you as they enjoy seeing their progeny playing with such child like abandon and freedom. This image is a further adaption of joy in front of friends and family. I used the watering can as an allegory about watering an idea which created new life. The new life came from an idea and as ideas are hidden until acted upon the water was a symbol of divine inspiration to give birth. You will note the birthing beak of new life breaking out of the egg, watched over by the parents that mated their passions for a new life. I chose the pillars idea from a thought that any person who builds their faith upon the wisdom from heaven can only dance with joy as they discover the freedom in knowing the truth in the words "I love you and get great pleasure out of seeing you enjoy what I have given you to enjoy". The heart of a true fathers affection for His offspring, as seen in the pillars of truth is what I call a pillar of heaven, holding up what is good and praiseworthy about life. Forgiveness, mercy, love patience and kindness are pillars for a good life. To worship something greater than ourselves and to tell the story of what our culture says, whether it be philosophy, politics, science, the arts, religion the common factor is we all want peace, purpose and our ideas to be listened to without judgment. Without wisdom and true knowledge, we may perish in our ignorance but ideas will continue to follow in the next generation. The father sees this in his idea being birthed. It could be a business idea, a design, a bucket list achievement which all take determination, decisions, and strength of character to bring it into reality. As the idea births, a strengthening of muscle and character is built as it grows to forge its own path in life. I don't know about you, but the pleasure I received by taking time out to observe, reflect on the life story before me and to consider the wonder of creation, left me in awe. I had a deep expression of gratitude and love welled up for God my father. I love Him without shame and when I see such amazing creativity in life I can only love Him for such wonder. There is much to learn, explore and enjoy in living. It is true, when you set your mind upon what is clean and up-building and not on the negative press and doomsday mentality your spirit will have a continuous feast and dance with joy. Guard over the thoughts of your heart ... this is one of the pillars of heaven. I have further developed my research into indigenous art and story telling of The Australian Aboriginal and New Zealand Maori. I admire these people and see a lot of great wonder in how they reflect their culture in art and music. As my perceptions develop I am including a combination of 2 styles within western fine art because what is common to all peoples is the desire for culture, a desire to live, a desire to learn and a desire to worship something. THE MAORI ART SYMBOLISM: The Mangopare Shark is renowned in the Maori world symbolizing natural abundance, strength, agility, and determination. The qualities of this predator (symbolized in the koru pattern on the pillar) were respected and warriors sought to emulate them on the battlefield to achieve their goals. Today the Mangopare Hammerhead art represents those qualities of abundance, strength, agility, and determination to achieve what is desired. THE AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINAL ART SYMBOLISM: I love the vibrancy and symbolism in native arts, in particular, Aboriginal dot painting. The language in Dot paintings today is recognized globally as unique and integral to Australian Aboriginal art. On the surface, the dot is simply a style of Aboriginal painting, like the use of cross-hatching or stencil art used in Western art. Exploring deeper into the history of the Aboriginal dot painting a world of camouflage, secrecy, and ritual is discovered. What the Aboriginal depicted in their desire to worship from the culture I now use and explore the visual medium from my culture to tell the stories of what I see. I am indebted to the Great Divine for the Aboriginals wisdom in story telling and the simple use of what was at hand to make their worship visible. This information below has been gleaned from numerous sources including: http://www.papunyatula.com.au/history/ http://www.aboriginalartstore.com.au/aboriginal-art-culture/aboriginal-dot-paintings.php/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_Australian_art/ The term ‘dot painting’ stems from what the Western eye sees when faced with contemporary Aboriginal acrylic paintings. This painting style arose from the Papunya art movement in the 1970s. Papunya Tula (The Western Desert - South West of Alice Springs and now venturing further into West Australia) artists used a process which originally mirrored traditional spiritual ceremonies. In such rituals the soil would be cleared and smoothed over as a canvas (much like the dark, earthy boards used by the Papunya Tala) for the inscription of sacred designs, replicating movements of ancestral beings upon earth. These Dreaming designs were outlined with dancing circles and often surrounded with a mass of dots. Afterward, the imprinted earth would be smoothed over, painted bodies rubbed away, masking the sacred-secrets which had taken place. The Papunya Tula painting style derives directly from the artists' knowledge of the ​traditional body and sand painting associated with the ceremony. To portray these dream time creation stories for the public has required the removal of sacred symbols and the careful monitoring of ancestral designs. Today these secrets have become known to all with modern technologies and communication systems.

Print:Giclee on Fine Art Paper

Size:10 W x 10 H x 0.1 D in

Size with Frame:15.25 W x 15.25 H x 1.2 D in

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