Wade
/wād/
verb
gerund or present participle: wading
walk with effort through water or another liquid or viscous substance.
3 x 5.5ft
Acrylic on Birch Panel
When I started this painting I was attempting to emphasize my pain in being given someone else's rules and religion. I was disgusted at the facts that I was instructed to not trust myself, to deny my own nature and to follow before I lead.
Not only was this painting a challenge because I was working on an unfamiliar surface where my paint was immediately absorbed by the surface, but also because working on this painting forced me to have an eye to eye with the most precious version of myself.
I am so grateful for childhood. I'm so glad that in a world with so much to discover I didn't get too comfortable with staying close to home, to be a child is to have endless courage. I look back at this even tinier version of myself with so much amazement, and so much compassion. I really, really love baby Rae. She's adventurous, she's thinking, and she's vocal. She laid so much groundwork for me. Adult me.
My first advocate, mentor, and friend (c.1994)