Dear Henry,
Do you remember when your mother came to the Opening Day of your art teacher's Gallery in Mount Eliza? It was a special day when your Mom bought a beautiful picture to gift to her young son Henry. Today, you may have that picture hanging in your bedroom; you might be lying in bed, reminiscing about that day and wondering what your eccentric art teacher was thinking when she made that "remarkable" picture (if I may so myself!) But jokes aside, this blog post is for you, so sit back and relax. Henry, it will all be revealed that your art teacher's thoughts are as crazy as she looks.
Back in 2017, before you were born, no kidding, a few years after you were born, I posted the first picture of the 'Star Traveller' on my Instagram, the name of the painting gifted to you. Back then, I was a fresh-faced painter; I had just begun my journey in the Fine Arts. Anokhi, my daughter, also your art class comrade, may have been running around in diapers, biting my ankles while I tried to paint this picture. I cannot remember the exact year that I painted it but it may have been 2017. I needed to paint a picture in which I could disappear into, like Jumaji, but not in a scary way and without monkeys and mother-eating lions! The Star Traveller was born!
Let's get to the meaning now that you know the back story. Which version to tell you: the fancy or the watered-down version? Given that you are only twelve, I chose the short watered down version. But considering you will only stay twelve for a short while, I will weave the fancy into a relatively short version!
I painted the Star Traveller on fine linen, a fancy and expensive fabric. It is fancier than the canvas you buy in most art stores. I chose that because I wanted the painting to look light-filled, like a star. I wanted the painting to look like it glowed. The linen helped me do that because I could paint very thinly over the surface. To do this is a challenging task, and I don't know if I succeeded (in other people's eyes), but I am happy with the result. Mission Impossible accomplished!
Then, the medium I chose to paint with was synthetic polymer; this is a fancy way of saying that the paint is made in a lab, not from nature. Back then, I was not so concerned with the planet's future, but since then, I have opened my eyes, and I now choose only sustainable paints and materials. I am sure your other art comrade and art class buddy, Dillon, The Captain Sustainability, will agree that this is also a good idea. That aside, because of the range of colours available in synthetic polymer, I could choose a beautiful palette of colours for this painting. The colour that most stands out to you is turquoise. Aside from how challenging it is to spell turquoise correctly, this colour has much history and meaning. Without getting too much into it, the colour has strong ties with two "extinct" civilizations, the Red Indians and the Ancient Egyptians. I love these two civilizations because of how much beauty they chose to bring into their everyday life and how much of their time they dedicated to living in spirituality. Henry, you may or may not know what spirituality means, but let me sum it up briefly what it means to me. To me, spirituality is not our religion, whether we choose Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, or worshipping rock gods; it's how much time we spend in nature, just daydreaming, being creative and using our imagination. So when you look at the colour turquoise, remember what I said.
Finally, let's talk about the subject of the painting. The subject is very unusual. Anyone would agree that it fits outside the usual subject matter of art. In particular, it is not a portrait, not a still life, and indeed not a landscape that we have ever known on Earth. The painting shows three orbs, one bigger than the other two, making it look like it is floating closer to the viewer than the other two. The orbs are floating among soft and airy clouds, and in the distance, you see an unfamiliar landscape that looks like a cluster of translucent coloured crystals with many points going in many directions. Henry, do you feel like you have been transported to an alien land? It would help if you did not fear this land. It should feel like a benevolent, loving place that feels like your home or a home away from home.
Here is the sci-fi, mystical, "crazy", imaginative, daydreamy part of this painting's story. What if I tell you that, instead of scrolling YouTube for Mr Beast videos for five minutes, you stare at the little dot in the centre of each orb? What will you experience? You will be transported to another place!?!! Will you try it? Will you be game to try it? Like the boy in Jumaji, be careful that you don't get sucked into the painting! That is precisely what my imagination told me when I painted these three orbs.
The first and most giant orb on the left is a "wormhole" that will transport you to the star system called Sirius. Sirius is the brightest star you will see in the night sky. I know you have a dog and so you might also be interested in knowing that it is known as the DOG STAR! How cool is that? Now, I will leave it to you to research this star and use your creative imagination to develop ideas on how this place might look. When I visited it through the wormhole, it was very watery and had a lot of dolphins swimming and jumping joyfully. Dolphins, by the way, are my favourite mammals, which is saying something because, as you know, humans are mammals too. There were other beings on this planet too, and they may visit you in your dreams, but don't worry, they were kind, gentle, interesting, but best of all, very clever!
I will wrap this up quickly, as it is probably getting boring for you, Henry! But please only go away after learning about the middle orb and maybe the one on the right! These wormholes are not boring at all!
The one in the middle will transport you to the central plateau of Africa! Here, the Dogon live. They are a solid ethnic group who are tough as nuts! They survive in the desert with no healthy earth to grow food. They are knowledgeable about outer space without using books or the internet. They also like to talk about Sirius, and you may wonder how they know so much about it without the use of a telescope. Food for thought!
Go on, use your imagination, and use the wormhole to visit the Dogon. They love to fancy dress in their ethnic costume, dance, and sing. It should be a lot of fun! I once saw the fish symbol on this orb drawn on the headgear that the Dogon people wear when they dress up to celebrate Sirius the Star.
In case you were wondering, the true definition of a wormhole is "a hypothetical connection between widely separated regions of space-time". Clever people in math came up with the idea of wormholes; I cannot explain how it works as I am not one of them.
Phew, nearly at the end, Henry! Well done for staying attentive until the end. I saved the best for last!
Last but not least, and appearing most distant in the picture, is the orb that will transport you to Ancient Egypt. We all know ancient Egyptians aren't people you necessarily want to mess around with, but how cool are their pyramids, underground tunnels, tombs, and all the people with crazy haircuts, masks, and radical outfits? Tell me, would you say no to visiting such a place? Unlikely Henry, you must admit you won't say no to an adventure like no other!
Henry, you are now wondering about the lone star in the sky, am I right? Your observation skills and curiosity are impeccable, young man.
You are looking at a star tetrahedron. Basically, it is two pyramids combined, one which is upside down combined with one which is the right way around. If you need more information, try looking it up on Google. This star is a symbol that represents all three orbs. It represents the spirit world, the earth domain and everything in between, such as other planets in our Galaxy. It also represents a spaceship. You can imagine yourself standing in the middle of this star and travelling between Earth, Sirius, Central Africa and Ancient Egypt. It can travel through space and time. Henry, you can travel the furthest distances and time you can imagine on this ship between the past and the future. How exciting is that!You can become a time traveller!
I am sorry that this is long, Henry. I hope that you will forgive me. Your loving Mother, Claire, requested that I write down the meaning behind the picture that belongs to you. She is clever; she knows the power of imagination, Henry! She will tell you that you can be whoever and whatever you believe and imagine yourself to be, Henry. I hope that each time that you look at this picture, you are reminded of that.
On a final note, I want to also remind you of the words that I scribed with pen and embellished on the background of this painting. The words say, "ALL IS WELL" because, in truth, no matter what happens, Henry, good or bad, if you stay kind and loving as you already are, All IS Well and will stay that way; remember that!
See you at the next Art Class Henry!
Love from,
Dharshi
P.S. I also made a Youtube video, its only 4 min and it has some extra info on the painting! Watch it at my channel Haus of Orbs.
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