Currently on display in the Andrew's Gallery at the Titanic Belfast, as part of the 'Inspire' exhibition, I want to share with you all a little background into this significance of this painting. The Goddess and the Sea is one of my favourite paintings to date. The painting is of great personal success to me for many reasons.
When I first started the piece I honestly had no idea what I was doing. I was in a bad place emotionally feeling stressed, anxious and frustrated. For me painting was always something that I tried, but always put aside as I always felt like I wasn’t good enough or skilled enough to paint. Once I graduated though, it was something I went back to. I had no intentions of creating any masterpieces or creating something for someone in particular, I just simply want to paint and enjoy doing it. On the day I first started this one I just wanted to let go of some anger and emotions I was feeling at that moment in time. So I took a lot of very dark colours of acrylic and just splattered and mixed them together on the canvas. At the time I just felt like it was a huge mess so I left it to the side and let go for a while.
After a month or so had passed I was in a better state of mind, so I decided that I would go back and do something with the piece. My first instinct was paint the sea and paint the sun. The seaside holds a special place in my heart as it’s where I always go when I want some space, to embrace the natural earth and to feel at peace with myself, true happiness. It’s also a place where I always felt at home with the people I love the most.
The painting is presented in a very lucid, dreamy state with the main visual point being the sun. The idea behind this is metaphorical for me finding happiness in the darkest of times, overlooking the sea, allowing my feminine energy to glow. I read once that when you dream about seeing the sea in your dreams, you are looking at the subconscious mind and the flowing energy of your emotions. This is something I wanted to illustrate by layering the colours for the background and the sea.
So for me this painting holds great personal success for me in terms of happiness, joy, fulfilment, treasured memories and crafting my skill. It’s a painting that I can look at and smile knowing that through layering and duplication of the final outcome, I have dealt with mixed emotions and self confidence. For me the importance of art and painting is the freedom of expression. To take some time to release trapped emotions and feelings and allowing the divine to take control and to heal your inner self. Never let anyone dictate to you what is right and what is wrong. If you are happy with what you have created and you get a sense of freedom and fulfilment from it, then your doing it right.
Embrace your creativity, your freedom and self love. You are the most important person in your life so do what you love and share the love and emotions with those around you.
'Inspire' is open to the public from the 4th March until the 28th March in The Andrews Gallery at Titanic Belfast