I always wanted to have an elephant in my living room.
One of my goal of yesterday was to finish a painting I started last week. I now have an elephant in my living room!
I love elephants. I love their looks and the imaginary they convey. It is a truly beautiful animal; they are at the same time majestic and moving, gigantic and baby-like. Just by looking at them, you want to put your arms around them and cuddle them. My father, who travels a lot, is collecting elephants. Since I was a child, during each of his travel, he would bring back an elephant from whatever part of the planet he was. His house is kind of like a mausoleum for elephant. What is strange is that I started this painting on the day of his anniversary without even noticing. It was when I was painting that I thought of him. I was thinking that the painting would go perfectly in his apartment because of his love for these animals and I realized that it was his birthday! Strange no? I call that synchronicity. Things happens for a reason. I am yet to understand the meaning of this occurrence. I can’t quite see what message this should convey. Maybe, I knew deep inside of me that it was his birthday and this was my way of creating something in is honor? I don’t know. Anyhow, I didn’t have my father in mind when I started the canvas!
Now that I am writing a bout it, I realise that the elephant could represent my father, and by extension, the perfect Man. Strong-willed and soft at the same time. A real man who can be there for you in times of needs. A man who can take care of you. Isn’t it what we girls all want? This might be cheap Freudian psychology though …
When I start a canvas, I don't usually know what I will paint. I start with colors and inspiration then comes to me. The painting is constructed by itself. Shadows reveals themselves and I take it from there. This time, I knew exactly what I wanted to represent. I wanted an Elephant in my living room.
Essentially, Elephants represents luck in my mind. An elephant with an upward trunk ensures good luck and prosperity. According to some culture, a downward trunk represents mourning. Well, not for me!
Even if I believe in all kind of things, I wouldn’t rely on any affirmation eyes-closed. I don’t believe that an elephant with its trunk downwards symbolizes mourning. I think that the power of beliefs comes from your inner self and your subconscious mind. If you really believe in something and feel it with all the fibers of your being, then this shall become the truth. It shall be Your truth, which might differ from one person to the other since your truth might not be true for someone else.
My Elephant has a downward trunk not only because I though my painting would look nicer on an esthetic and construction point of view, but I wanted the trunk of my elephant to convey the message I wanted to be reminded of: When the world surrounding you is conflicted, all you need to do is draw energy from an unlimited source and send back positive energy to the world. The elephant of my living room is feeding from a white, silvery river representing the unlimited resources available to all of us. The trunk reaches out of the canvas. The elephant is feeding on pure energy and is collecting all he needs, all of His needs. The flow of energy travels upwards, to the crown of his head, symbolizing enlightenment. The ears are giving back light to a conflicted world which will hopefully become more enlightened.
I mainly used black and white color on this painting to show that energy can be transformed. When the pure meets the dark, emotion and conflicts arises. The world is neither white nor black, nothing is definite nor carved in stone, you can feel down, you can feel sad, you can feel deprived. It is then up to you to take a different path. It is a question of choice. You can choose the light over the darkness and feed the darkness with your light.
The elephant in my living room is here to remind us that when conflicted or in pain all you need to do is draw enlightening energy from earth. The elephant in my living room is a lucky charm.
I believe, so it is.