Mother's Wisdom
oil on canvas panel
12 x 12 inches
I titled this painting “Mother’s Wisdom” for two reasons.
First reason: I had bought a beautiful purple flowering plant at the nursery and was so excited. But as soon as I got it home, a violent gust of wind caused it to fall and break its only two stems. I was devastated. But my mom told me something good would come of it. Then I noticed the stems laying on my white table at sunset and how beautiful they were, so I painted them. Their fleeting beauty was captured. I consider that to be something good.
Second reason: Less than a month later, the plant had grown many more stems and blossoms than it had lost, and it had cleverly intertwined itself with a nearby pole so as not be again broken by the wind. Mother Nature’s wisdom and patience makes seemingly fragile things resilient. That’s what mothers do.