For this project I really wanted to explore motifs that have been around all my life and how they might represent myself and the struggles I’ve been through trying to discover my art.  I have always been fascinated with birds and the relationship between birds and their cages. As cheesy as it sounds, I related birds to freedom and cages as their enemy. I relate to freedom because it is what my soul constantly craves in life. Freedom to do what I want, where I want, and when I want it.

Flowers have been a constant symbol in my family. My grandfather had a greenhouse where he started his flower business with his brother and the heavy importance of flowers in my family has been passed down. My favorite flower is the waterlily because it puzzled me as a child that some kind of flower could sit ontop of the water surface and not drown. It also is a symbol that represents my family’s lake cabin. It is a place built by my grandfather and the place I spent all of my childhood summers. I feel like within my family we have certain flowers that represent our personalities or souls. The waterlily is symbolically the representation of myself. Waterlilies grow every couple of years out the front of our property near the reeds. 

These reeds host a lot of lake birds’ nests in the summer. Growing up there was one bird call that baffled me. I had no idea what made the noise and was in constant search of that bird. This search finally ended last year when I was a couple feet away from a bullrush with a red winged blackbird making the exact noise. This “aha” moment is what I am hoping will happen with my artwork, I’m constantly looking for my place in art and I feel like it’s right in front of my face yet I can’t see it. This is why the red winged blackbird is in front of my face.

I chose this light colour pallette based on colours that I like to use a lot. The softness allows for for major contrasts between warm and cool colours to work together nicely and not clash too hard. The misty-ness was created to help force that feeling of lost or unknown potential. I wanted it to be comfusing where I was and what was going on (waterlilies floating) to reinforce the theme. It created a fantastical appearance that matches most of my interests.

I chose to paint this project traditionally because as I am finding myself as an artist, I am realizing that traditional painting is what makes me most happy in life and it is a starting point for me. My love for painting helps me through so many bad times and I get lost in the material and pleasentness of the paint rather than getting frustrated with technology and making it “seem” like traditional.