Myths and Legends

It is important to define the difference between a myth and a legend. Myths are stories that are made up, legends are stories with some sort of historical truth to them but which cannot be verified. With all my paintings there is a fundamentally interwoven meaning which cannot be completely extracted and expressed verbally. However, I was transported back to a memory of sorts, thinking about every time one looks up to the hills and sees snow caps; rare where I live. There is something beautifully still about fresh snow which draws silence. Sometimes I see the snow in my minds eye, ashes and tears. A tree from my childhood that would get climbed; swinging, falling and breaking my wrist. Shutting myself away. Fighting a battle alone, how we have all done this. The painted tree bears berries which cannot be eaten, unless of course one wishes to die. Our ancestors learned the hard way, which I suppose is why we learned to write things down and pass our experiences on to our children.

One of my very favourite things is to read to my children. Since they were babies, I have read to them every night. They love it and I love it. In a busy day when we have so very many things to do in the day, when they’ve been at school all day, when I have made dinner and done homework and bathtime, we snuggle down and share a story. The stories for children in the past have gone through seasons of moralistic instruction, some have been very ‘fluffy’. The best stories are immersive, full of intrigue, and adventure an escape of fantasy for one to dream of a future where there is success, goodness and victory. Ones with humour and rich, reflective imagery. Sometimes we’ve read stories that have no drama and honestly they’re very dull; fluffy bunny says ‘sorry’ is somewhat vomit-inducing. Children, and adults, need to see strong characters journey through a story in the full spectrum of human experience and emotion, and come through the other side. Stories are for us, painting is for me.