Day 24 - Lunar Alchemy

Painting for me is often a time and place for me to think through and process circumstances that life sometimes throws my way.  And if I am lucky, the painting will reflect an answer to my consternations.  Today's painting was one of those times.  Without going into too much detail, my 8 year old son has been having a rough time of it for the past week or so.  It can be hard growing up as a thoughtful, caring and emotionally deep young man, and that is just what he is.  Not your typical rough and tumble boy, my son would rather hold the door for me, read a book or talk about life. Sure he enjoys sports and activity, but that competitive hard nature just isn't there. These softer, pensive qualities are the qualities that make him so special to me and I would never, ever want him to change.  However, when faced with other typical 8 year old boys behavior, he is sometimes bewildered and hurt.  Today's painting, "Lunar Alchemy" started out as a study of the amazing contrasts you can find in the night sky and landscape.  It ended up being a 'portrait' of my son, or more accurately, the abstracted qualities I see in him.  I thought about him and all he has been going through this week while I painted this, and know now that it is finished that I painted the mystery, depth, beauty and power that are inherent in his soul... Now, somehow, I must reassure him that he is wonderful just exactly as he is.

Lunar Alchemy, oil on panel, 6"x6"
not for sale