‘Lotus Reflections’ is a special painting to me on many levels but it was initially inspired by a family trip to England to visit my husbands family. There are so many things I love about my husbands homeland but the pride they have in their country and the care they put into the estates and gardens and preservation of buildings and homes that date back to hundreds of years and the traditions that they just simply….will…not give up, is truly moving every time I go.
We never go without visiting at least a couple of castles but this time we visited Heaver Castle in Kent, England. By far, our favorite. Heaver Castle was Anne Boleyn’s estate, the infamous beheaded wife of King Henry IIIV. The grounds of Heaver Castle is simply….stunning. The lush gardens, motes, lakes is only part of it. Just incredibly inspiring especially from an artist’s perspective.
However, I did not know at the time of this trip but I was slowly becoming ill with a life long battle ahead of me. I took multiple pictures on that trip in hopes to come straight home and paint. That never happened. 5 years later, thousands of dollars spent on health issues, a new city, a new home, a new healthy life change and I am finally entering back into the land of the living. This was the first painting I did when I arrived in my new home. It’s quite a large painting and would typically take me weeks to paint but I knew exactly what I wanted to paint when I finally had a good day and it was done in a weekend. I used to think about the symbolism of the lotus flower in the pictures I took that day quite often during my sick years and I hang it over my mantle to remind me on my bad days of how far I have come. The lotus flower symbolizes the purity of body, mind and spirit. The rebirth/regrowth. I wanted a rebirth. Doing what you love calms the responses in the body therefore creating a lovely healing ground for your body. I have so much gratitude for the little things in my life now. I hope I never take them for granted ever again. Whatever it takes to heal and whatever your passions are, do it! It quite literally can heal your soul.
If you are interested in a print of ‘Lotus Reflections’ please click here.