Art Letters

Looking up at the collection of flowers - simple, refined, selected for their uniform color - one stared back at me, unlike the rest. Black and white. A strong center hosting whispy wings. An anemone.

It felt like a hug from the florist. A moment of expression, briefly breaking from the assigned arrangement, her support conveyed softly through a stem.

Later that evening, my brother handed me a flower he brought home, one for each of us he said, to remember the day. The anemone.

I decided to press it, to save it for a future day. Retrieving it months later, I wanted to spend time with it, to notice its new form, its details, its delicate strength.

I drew, painted and cut them to shape, all the beautiful swirls and curves of the three anemones - one for my mom, brother and me.

I added a stroke of blue - a through line to represent my father.

Now complete and ready to hang, I admired the floral trio on the wall. Until suddenly it became difficult to stare at directly. Too literal a reminder. It’s prettiness an inaccurate telling of the story. Missing the hard edges.

Afraid to undo my hard work, I reluctantly placed my saw, and in a moment of release, cut into its perfect petals.

Collecting their many pieces, I realized I had no way of putting them back in their original setting. Instead, I began positioning them, one by one, like tiles, into their new place.

Now time to secure them in place, I worried realizing that cutting the wooden pieces by hand meant they weren’t perfectly uniform. Their slight variation meant I couldn’t adhere them in the precise tiled arrangement I envisioned. No pushing or prodding would change their form, or make them fit perfectly together.

I stepped back, and the cracks began to show. I wished for grout to fill it all in.

I began staring at them, the cracks, the spaces in between.

The wound is the place where the light enters you, Rumi said.

Where the light seeps in.

WHERE THE LIGHT SEEPS IN
26 x 32 Acrylic on Custom Wood Panel
Mont Art House

Thank you for personally connecting with me through this work.