Satisfaction … There was something so satisfying from witnessing this painting find its way. It was my biggest challenge so far – and the whispers continued to say within, “no – this isn’t the one meant to be.”

These shapes pulled me in.
Turned it upside down. And I saw tiny houses with doors and one at the bottom.
Turned it once more and it became a village.

The last strokes were the dashes down the centre of the painting. It was turned sideways. I had no idea why – but I was moved to make these marks. I trusted in the process and didn’t hesitate or get caught in my head with judgement.

Symbolism & Metaphors
My daughter came into the room when the painting was finished and asked “what made you put morse code in your painting? I said what? I love unexpected symbolism that comes through paintings sometimes. I looked at it and saw – dash dash dot dash

– When I looked it up I found out that it represents the letter “Q”. So I continued to look deeper. Q – is spelled “Cue” for pronunciation. And “Cue” means …. Wait for it … “to enter”.

Also – noticing all the “dashes” that intuitively were painted at the very end of this piece, it was also brought to my attention that there is a poem about the “dash”.

On stones at the Cemetery, we find the date you were born – a dash – and the date you died. It’s a beautiful poem that talks about the importance of how you live “your dash.”

I painted the dashes with the canvas turned on its side. You will notice that they are grouped in sets of 3 (to the left), then 1 (in the centre), then 2 (to the right). This number idea was curious to me so I googled: What does the number 312 mean?

And this was the first thing that came up on my screen:
Bible | John 3:12 – “If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?”

The unfolding of it all – such a curious, beautiful thing.
The moment I painted the last dash and circled it with a paint stroke, I could feel in my body that my job, as a painter, was done here.