Reflections

Reflections-

Have you ever been in a place (physically, mentally or emotionally) where everything is so still, no movement or ‘disturbances”? Lately I have been thinking about time and reflections. How we invest or spend it and who we choose to invest it in or with. The funny thing is that whether you think about investing or spending time, the only thing that seems almost criminal is to ‘waste it’. The act of waiting is one of those that may seem like a waste of time… unless we use it for what is intended: reflect and prepare.

In one of my many drives last Summer I saw this almost blinding view while coming to a stop. The reflections in the water were so striking that… you guess it: I stopped and took a photo. This specific painting has taken me longer than anticipated. Partly, because I chose to do more of a glaze (which I usually don’t do because of the waiting process) and partly because though I liked the view and I liked the reflections it had no emotional connection to me. Until, I started thinking about the many hours I was investing in painting it.  

Upon that realization, it came to my mind how fitting the title would be: Reflections. Reflections are just that, a mirror of an image. But when applied to us, to our thinking process, to our experiences and perhaps our spiritual walk, they also show us the real image; we see ourselves for who we are. Just like in a painting, these reflections could be blurry if the water where we are seeing our image is cloudy; yet it gives us the thought of a different possibility of what we have in mind. The trick of those mental and visual reflections is to identify where the light comes from, are we only blocking the light, creating a shadow? Or, are we really seeing a clearer image of what we think we see?  In the case of this painting, I was able to capture both, shadows and reflections. You’ll see that the first ones have a different angle and different tones in the water.

After this reflection ( no pun intended),  I was able to conclude that it was because I took the time to study and work on this piece that I could capture what sometimes we can ignore, light, shadows and reflections, which in reality, are not far from each other.

May you take the time to stop, invest and see the reflections that light causes in everything… there are more than shadows out there.  Hope you enjoy this piece!