'Rise'
‘RISE’
95 x 70 cm
Acrylic, pastel & charcoal on canvas
The Aussie cocky rises from the ashes of the Black Summer bushfires.
Perched with the wisdom on her face of knowing that no matter the magnitude of the devastation we can overcome.
We rise from the scorched ground, find new strength, we re-grow, re-build, re-unite and develop a new trust of the journey we are all on.
I’ve always loved the greek mythological creature the phoenix... the eternal bird that regenerates itself, rising from the ashes and being re-born...the symbolism has always been an anchor for me.
The Black Summer bushfires ravaged so much of our country, when it reached where I lived I felt new fear, new loneliness and lots of uncertainty.
The symbolism of the phoenix felt stronger than ever, coupled with how it paralleled my personal life at the time I painted this artwork.
The phoenix rose from the ashes.
ORIGINAL PAINTING SOLD
A2 Print - $65
A4 Print - $55
Gift Card + Envelope - $10
Note Card - $6
Journal - $40
*Note: please be aware that there will be some discrepancy in the colour of the artwork vs the image on screen due to the nature of the way colour is represented digitally.
This artwork is part of the ‘Fire & Feathers’ collection.
Which is a series of paintings that came from the ashes of the Black Summer Bushfires in 2019
I’ve never experienced anything like it before… the sheer fear of falling asleep at night with eery red skies, knowing the fires were inching closer, a full nights sleep was not possible, with the essential need to listen to the emergency scanners and check in with all our people. Carrying the responsibility of getting my daughters and all our animals to safety and the logistics of that with 3 horses and a 2 horse trailer. Digging deep and attempting to quell my terror and act fast when we were stopped on the highway, directed by a frantic police officer quickly motioning for a highway full of vehicles to somehow turn around and get the hell out - cos the fire was coming straight for us!
These paintings were my way of making sense of the experience and aiming to capture the resilient Aussie spirit that was shown in such real and raw ways.
The colour palette, the composition, layering style and the type of Aussie bird and botanicals that I used were all very carefully considered.
The juxtaposition of the devastation alongside the incredible kinship of people was something I wanted to capture through the birds and the native flowers and foliage. Encounters with strangers that ended in saying ‘Stay safe’ was a testament to our strong foundation as Australian people. The word ‘unprecedented’ was suddenly regular vocabulary to us all but we were all in it together.
At the time of creating these paintings I was very deep into my own devastation through my divorce and huge life upheaval and this is unconsciously expressed in each painting… that same ‘Rising from the ashes’ and sentiments of beginning again, sung true.
Resilience is a virtue that only comes after allowing something challenging to shape us in a stronger, wiser and more gracious way. These fires did this to us all.