Around the Lake

For over 10 years I have been walking my dog around a lake. I have seen every season come and go. I have watched the eagles soar, how the heron stalks his dinner and how koi fish mate. I have watched the wind dance across the lake and how the winter cold transforms the water to a frozen sheet of glass. I have seen my reflection in the calm and in the storm or icy glass of this, most powerful element.

Koi fish endure. They represent dedication and perseverance. They are tenacious and they endure. Water represents the emotions. We are born in the dark still of the black womb. We navigate the tides and storms of our lives.  Like the Koi, we sometimes swim against currents and over come obstacles. In Japan, Koi symbolize strength, courage, and success.

Because I cannot hold water, I had to paint it moving. There is a texture to water. There is a mix of cerulean blue with black and cadmium yellow. Quinacridone pink and emerald green float next to cadmium orange and phthalo turquoise. I have studied these colors for 10 years and have finally found a reason to paint them. Alizarin Crimson mixed with black or yellow ochre, they play in my mind as the wind and sun create beautiful geometric shapes that constantly move. Never at any given moment in time, is this body of emotions, still. And yet, that is the goal, isn’t it. To contain our emotions. To harness their energy. To endure and persevere. To succeed all while doing no harm to our environment or those around us.

There are great lessons to be learned walking around a lake every day. The wildlife showed me many things about myself. The lake taught me how to see color and how to use it. For this, I am forever grateful, every day, as I walk, around the lake.