19 February 2013

Change

"Change is the essence of life.
Be willing to surrender what you are
for what you could become"
 ~ Reinhold Niebuhr

The canvas piece below use to look a little different. The butterfly shape was collaged with multi-coloured papers. I wasn't liking where it was going and so it sat on the shelf for months.
Recently I decided it was time to do something with it. However, I was unsure what to do. I laid it on the studio table and over many days kept looking at it, wondering, could I salvage it somehow? After considering many options I eventually settled on keeping the basic butterfly shape but covering up the paper collage. I decided light modelling paste would be perfect to give it texture and a raised effect. As I got my supplies ready I began to doubt my decision. What if I made it worse? Should I cover up all the work I had already put into this piece? 'What if's' were bombarding my thoughts. I walked away from the studio.
The next day as I was going through a box I came across this quote (above) that I had written on a piece of paper a while ago. I instantly knew what it meant. It was time to surrender.
And so I began working on the new butterfly. The texture was just as I had imagined. The colouring with pan pastels and soft pastels was just what I needed to allow the new butterfly to emerge.

This piece is titled 'Awakening'. As I allow change to occur, as I surrender,  my soul awakens and is given freedom to become what it is meant to be. Freedom to emerge.