THE SWEET LINING, LOVE
One morning in late 2021 I came into my studio with a special little feeling concocted from just about nothing. I cannot remember which day specifically but I’d imagine it was early November because the weather was on the warmer edge of our usual crisp Toowoomba ones.
What I do remember vividly is a feeling of excitement and in quite an unusual happenstance for me, a feeling of complete infatuation with the idea of romance. What was so peculiar about this feeling was that like I mentioned earlier, it came from nowhere. Sure I had a little crush on a gentleman I occasionally saw down the street—we'd never met, but he had luscious curly hair and always wore a nicely coloured and ironed button down shirt. While this is a lovely pair of details, I know in myself that they’re absolutely not enough to cause any kind of a romantic rise from me—I’m actually quite convinced now that I just always respect a nice coloured and ironed shirt and that a crush in retrospect is a bit of a stretch.
So basically, I had absolutely no love interest and no flirtation whatsoever, the only thing happening was the occasional shirt glance if timing allowed. This complete nothingness is why I was so struck by the overwhelming feeling of joy. Sometimes I like to think that maybe a person I will one day be in love with is thinking of me at the same time that I am wondering about them and that that’s where the feeling comes from. Sometimes I think I’ve watched too many roms’.
That was my feeling this particular November morning and despite having a thousand things to do in that pre-Christmas period, I filled my palette with the appropriate colours to my big special feeling and in a flowing stream I painted, almost in a bid to get the whole thing out of my system-- oh, I have my fun!
Twenty minutes is all it takes if the energy is bubbling at the surface, and within half an hour I had painted my little dreamscape of a love I know will arrive someday.
While you never know who or what is coming around the corner, I’m quietly confident that maybe I haven’t popped into a romantic whirlwind in the last couple of years because I often hardly have enough space in my mind to keep up with my business. When I become despondent about this as I occasionally do, I remember the feeling I am awarded from this painting and remember that there’s a silver lining to the expanse of time that sometimes passes without a love, which is that one day it will arrive and in my mind I know it’s pretty sweet.
The sweet lining, love is brimming with excitement, an energetic promise and a wonder I know nothing yet about. Their deep green tones intrigue me and their vibrant pinks excite, frantic early morning shapes build toward a bold and brilliant, smooth and messy piece that I will think of until I don’t have to. For now I will wonder what my loves may evoke for you and hope that it's something special <3