This painting came easily. It flowed from beginning to end but the bird on the chair was not supposed to be there. Whilst painting this work a bird landed on the window shelf and tapped on the window. It stayed with me watching me, continuously catching eye contact for about 20 minutes whilst I painted it. Unlike Blue Tartan (my most recent work) the subject matter of this painting is mental strain. To be broken within.
The broken pencil (the title of this painting) represents total emotional break down from the normal.
The feather held in hand represents the past, a memory. The eye that sits on top of the hand is the minds eye. Trying to be conscious of the mind takes you away from the problems it creates.
Why music notes? The bird represented the future. The music notes projecting from the mouth was produced by distraction. A bird has a pretty simple yet beautiful existence. Distracted by the bird, the attention it gave to the mind produces something different. The silence of this kind of interaction results in music. Like an Angel a bird can change your mind set. Music is a theme that serenades the moment of contact.
Finally the white flower. The gift from the bird sitting on his knee is the gift of renewal. The bird momentarily fixed him. The flower is a new birth, or a reset of the mind. Not a total fix but a temporary one that helps with healing.
This painting was pretty heavy. It took me to places I've not been whilst creating art. Art is my passion, not an escape. I've painted since I was a child, it's always been a meditation. The silence that comes with art silences the mind. The bird never returned but is never forgotten and will for ever sit as an impression on this canvas.