Acrylic and recycled acid free tissue paper50 x 20 x 2.5 cm
The first of 4 paintings for the exhibition www.ourchangingearth.co.uk for the Our Changing Earth Festival June 2023 at the Sir Bernard Miller Centre, Cookham, Bucks.
‘Beneath the damaged sky I sit surrounded’ is the collective title for my group of paintings. This theme explores my connection with the landscape and the importance this plays in my life and my mental wellbeing. Beneath a sky which may be damaged by human activity, I still feel at peace and connected with the earth all around me, but it is to the sky that I look for calm and escape. It is the sky which grounds me. Through paying attention to the sky observing the way it constantly changes, this ‘open awareness’ or ‘open-focused attention’ is restful for the brain giving it a well- earned break from the processing of thoughts, worries, plans, ‘fight or flight’ stresses and enables my thoughts to slow and also my breathing. It is so important for our health to stop, take a pause and notice the natural world around us, to be overcome with awe and wonder at the beauty of our world, otherwise we will become disconnected from what really matters, the real world in which we live, and which we must look after.