Painting About Anger and Forgiveness
 | This painting, "Feet for Dancing" was recently sold to her forever home. Before she left my studio for the last time, I wanted to share her story. It's a story about anger and forgiveness. |
"Feet for Dancing" was painted as part of a collection where each of the canvases addressed a different lie that I believed in my late teens and early 20s. In fact, the lies that inspired the paintings in that collection came directly from old journal entries; and I printed those excerpts on plaques that sat right next to the canvases on the gallery wall.
The lie that inspired this piece was:
"I have every right to be angry, and I can never forgive the person who wronged me."
Obviously, I wrote that during a time in my life when I was carrying around a lot of anger.
My first major romantic relationship was not a healthy one; with continuous patterns of isolation, control, and verbal abuse. The relationship ended, but I carried a lot of anger about it for years afterward. Anger about how I had been treated, but also anger that the lies of my uselessness seemed to have imbedded themselves deep inside my soul; like a voice in the shadow of my mind that I could not seem to move past.
Anger is a complicated emotion. Anger can be extremely useful. When anger sees something that is wrong, it pokes out its head and says, "Hey! I don't like that. That's not right." But when anger is allowed to take up a permanent residency in our hearts, that's when it begins to turn into bitterness. And bitterness can be a poison.
The painting depicts a moment of choice: in which the woman can either let the looming shadow of bitterness consume her, or she can break free into a joyous new dance.
She can let go.
She can forgive.
If you'd like to hear more about "Feet for Dancing" there's a short video clip below. (It's about a minute and a half long)
The original painting may be gone, but prints are still available in my online shop.
Painting"Feet for Dancing" was an important step in my artistic journey, but also an important step for my heart. Thank you to every person who has told me that this piece has touched their heart in some way, and thank you for joining me on this journey.
Sending love to you!
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