Meet Me in the Moonlight, egg tempera painting, by Daniel Ambrose
The idea for my egg tempera painting, Meet Me in the Moonlight, occurred during a texting conversation with a collector. She mentioned the title of a plein air painting I did in Maine. An image flashed in my mind—shazam!!—a painting was conceived.
I find inspiration in life—in nature and in conversations. In seawater, singing birds, or words written or spoken, inspiration flows and paintings come to be. If we meet and talk awhile, your voice—in the rhythmic flow of breath—your words will tumble like surf music through my head. Rolling sound into wave after wave of mental pictures. Pictures become paintings. Breath becomes art.
Breath, invisible yet essential to our well being … as it is to be loved. In my yoga practice, breathing brings calmness and clarity. Clarity begets serene paintings, like Meet Me in the Moonlight.
It was not always so, this serenity. Ages ago, in my wilderness years, I knew anxiety and the terror of panic attacks. There is none of that now, not for decades. Living fully has taught me all things change, like sand dunes shifting in the wind. In time, anxiety waned, replaced by a deep, abiding peace.
In the relentless drive of daily life, it’s difficult finding peaceful spaces. Over the years, collectors have shared with me wonderful stories of living with my original paintings. Luminous art graces their rooms, creating spaces of beauty and calm. Through the alchemy of paint, tranquility flows through my brush and into my paintings, filling my collectors with serenity. Art, like love, is a mysterious healer in human lives.
Moments of peace are also known reflecting on sudden beauty; the rising moon polishing a gentle sea, its light shimmering like morning dew on a mountain violet. Peace too, glides in the breath of a loving voice soothing a weary soul.
Peace comes like inspiration, unannounced but always invited.
This painting, Meet Me in the Moonlight, is on exhibit at Cheryl Newby Gallery:
Inspired by Nature
Cheryl Newby Gallery
Pawleys Island, South Carolina
Exhibition date: June 4th – Jul 2, 2016.
Call Kaitee at 843- 979-0149, for more details.