Painting Reflection

“Epiphany”

This is a contrast of structure painting with an additional emphasis on a minority/ majority contrast. Each of the objects in my painting represents different concepts. The ring represents longevity and eternity, while the flower in the vase represents things that are temporary and fleeting. This painting has taken on a personal meaning to me. The painting as a whole represents the epiphany of realizing that there is an eternal God who has been there watching over you throughout you life, the smaller hidden rings in the back ground signify his existence throughout each even in your life, whether or not you realized he was there. The bright colored flowers represent all things in life that are temporary, your latest boyfriend, the time you had knee surgery, when you didn’t get accepted into the school you wanted to go to, and maybe the day you were married, whatever it may be that has happened in your life. During the time that it happens it always seems to be the most important thing, which is why the flowers in front are large and bright and attention grabbing, as time passes, those things don’t seem as important, feelings fade, and you grow and move on. This is shown in the painting by the smaller flowers with duller colors.

The ring, in contrast to the bright, exotic flowers, has a more relaxed calm and simple coloring and feeling to it. God is simple, is the message that I’m expressing, much more simple than all the complications in life, God is really just an expression of love itself. Love is everlasting, love never starts and it never ends, true love is something every person needs in life. It is something every person needs to receive and to give in order to feel fulfilled. And it is simple, as it is shown in the painting, where it is out in the open, apart from all the flowers. I made the ring be the source of light, because I feel that God/love is the source of light in my life, and it is what drives me everyday to get through all the temporary things that happen in life.

Artistically in this painting, I used composition of my objects to portray specific messages. Overall, there is a contrast of space in my painting. The flowers and rings are all very squished together on the outer edges, and towards the corner there is suddenly all this space and then only one object—the ring. This is meant to draw special attention to this part of the painting. Because the coloring of the ring is not bright and eye catching, I used spacing to make the ring the focus of my painting.

There is also a special color scheme to the whole painting; all the flowers are colored with the analogous colors between red orange and yellow-green. These colors are all pretty fiery and bright-looking which is why I used them to show how these event is your life seem to take up all your attention and be “the biggest” thing in your life, while there happening. The ring on the other hand, is painted in cooler colors, mostly blue, to show how God can go unnoticed, and love for the people who are most important to you is often not expressed during times of stress of times when “bigger things” are happening.