“Let the sea set you free,” the saying goes.
But me and this thistle think it’s time we set the sea free.
(artist retains all rights to print reproductions of this painting)
Inspiration: meditation and groovy tunes
ORIGINAL COPY POSTED ON INSTAGRAM DURING THE CHALLENGE
She appeared to me yesterday while I was painting a different miniature, this thistle in her weeping watery mirage. I first thought I’d name the painting Sad Sea Flower, but this morning during my yoga practice I had some groovy Kerala Dust tunes playing. And this painting just kept coming back to me with a flurry of non-sensical ‘what if’ thoughts.
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“What if she’s real and we never discover her because we’re turning our sea into lifelessness? What if she’s imaginary but she lives off of tears and sweat, not saltwater at all?”
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Just then in the song, a word in the lyrics came through my thoughts. Thistle.
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Ah yes, I realised, it wasn’t a flower at all – it was a ‘Sad Sea Thistle’.
Just before posting this I got the urge to look up what ‘thistle’ symbolises.
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And the answer? Protection.
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This is perhaps my favourite part of this challenge thus far – the thing that happens when you open yourself up totally to the creative ebb and flow. Like breadcrumbs on paths of uncertainty, you never know the full context of what you’re part of creating until you’re at its end.
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“Let the sea set you free,” the saying goes.
But me and this thistle think it’s time we set the sea free.