Spring

Swirling rust fades from the eyes,
A harsh winter has pushed the tulip's bloom well into summer,

Quiet to hear the trilling
golden and purple flashes
sparkling sand washes anew,

Ending the end,
Only a phoenix can do, as it feeds itself in its destruction
there to rise again.

Does the World Make Way?

This painting kind of took on its own life. It symbolizes steadfastness and courage. I meant to show the girl walking through debris and a broken world and persisting through. I painted over that with the clouds. Its like how you view adversity. If you shrug it off, adversity is only a way to improve yourself and become tempered. There is a falun in the background. In Falun Dafa (what I practice), that is it's symbol. It gives her wisdom to see the world in a new light. This isn't a painting of the heavens, but of the earth to a person on a spiritual path. All of the hardships one faces can be turned into opportunities to grow and learn and elevate your character.

Lesson Learned

Going back to the old canvas I was using all last summer. It says no gesso needed. The paint however doesn't absorb into the canvas at all. So that led to a summer of a wax on, wax off type approach to painting. Applying wet oil paint on top of yet more wet oil paint constantly leaves everything swirling into a color you don't want it to if you are trying to finish a painting in one sitting.

Here I had to apply a fairly thick coat of gesso.