Roots and Wings

I’ve always loved this quote:

There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children. One of these is roots, the other, wings. ~Hodding Carter

My senior thesis show in college was a series of paintings that included portraits of my parents and siblings alongside fantasy landscapes filled with flocks of birds in flight. Besides the conceptual beauty of this idea–being grounded by a connection to family and the past while also holding a spirit of adventure, courage and boldness as we grow towards the future–I also love the visual depiction of tree roots going deep into the ground while above-ground, birds fly in a big, open sky.

I made this little oil painting with those themes in mind.

This painting is also a color study of red, yellow, blue–including the three primaries from the color wheel here was a purposeful depiction of balance.