THANK GOODNESS

I cannot believe I last posted on the 18th July. It only seems like yesterday. My middle daughter has had her birthday and last weekend we had the 'joy' of six 13-14 year old girls sleep over. They watched videos for hours, ate rubbish and then slept...for a few hours.

I am busy working towards my next show at Doggett Street Gallery opening October 12. The exhibition is called 'Prayers For The Planet: We are all the same.' The painting above will be in the exhibition. It is called 'Thank Goodness'. It is a large painting 92 x 107 cm. I wanted to weave the tree of life into the strata of the earth. I also wanted the feel of rain and the appearance of this rain penetrating the strata. I wanted the sense of looking beyond the surface.

How many times do we exclaim 'Thank Goodness!'... or 'Thank God!'? If you think about it these exclamations are really about gratitude, relief, love, hope. I've noticed when I say/exclaim them and then stop to think about what I really mean, my feelings normally reveal complete relief, hope and an almost exasperated 'it's about time!' However, when I have stopped and thought I try to elliminate the exasperation and focus on being truly thankful.

When rain falls from the sky during drought times people exclaim 'Thank God!' or 'Thank goodness it's raining!' I've lived in rural Queensland for most of my life and I have heard these exclamations many times from friends, my Father, myself! I now live in Brisbane which is suffering from severe lack of water due to drought. When it does rain I hear the same things.
These exclamations are normally said with emphasis and emotion. They are really prayers of thanks, prayers for the planet...as well as being heartfelt exclamations of relief.

My painting above is about rain, thankfullness and looking beyond the surface of things, words, actions and life.