The Secret Of The Real Rainbow
A few days ago, my grandma celebrated her birthday, and I made her something I haven't done for her in a while.
This year I had more free time (no exams, yay!), so I managed to create a painting.
In the beginning, I knew I wanted to paint on a landscape canvas - not too small and not too big. 70 x 40 cm was just right.
At the beginning of every painting I make, I start with creating an intention. That is what I want to show with the artwork, what kind of energy I want it to give to the person that will own it, and so on. For this one, I wanted to show my grandma how wonderful she is and give her a sense of relief, a calming vibration, yet a fresh breeze of good energy.
I sometimes know how the first layer of the painting will look like in advance, but I had no idea this time. I actually got the idea before going to sleep a few weeks before, but I then abandoned the idea. About a week before I planned to start working on the painting, I got a vivid "video" in my mind - I was creating quarters of the circle in different colours. "That's it!" I said happily.
It was a very relieving feeling that enabled me to start painting without too much pressure.
Before starting, I put on my favourite painting music - RAW ICE SOUNDS.
After completing the base that I had in mind, I leaned the painting on my cabinet and sat on my table, looking down on it. I quickly thought to myself what exact message this painting is giving to my grandma. Instantly, I got the message behind the painting: these colourful quarters of the circle are pieces of a rainbow. The real rainbow…and then the whole message came to me within seconds. That made me so happy. The message I came up with gave me the idea, what to add to the canvas next.
I went to the forest over the street and picked up some parts of spruce cones and acorns. I cleaned them, painted them with gold, and bathed in gold sparkles. I stuck them on the canvas, which took me quite long because I wanted all pieces to be in the best place according to the rainbow parts under them.
These gold parts represent the treasure I will talk about below.
This time, I knew I wanted to use vivid colours, so I chose acrylics for the base. I combined them with pigments, which gave this beautiful texture to the painting. Well, the "dusty pink" was mainly made of natural pigments. The pigments I used were from my local area, Costa Rica, lichee's skin and wood.
Below you can get a sneak peek into my process of creating this painting, with my storytelling in the background. One day I will get more fluent in English (soon ;)). However, I describe much more in the blog post than in the video.
And here is the story behind the painting (which I told my grandma):
*Iceland 2011
You probably imagine the rainbow as a colorful arch stretching across the sky. But let me tell you something - this is not the real rainbow I have in mind. Each rainbow consists of thousands of colorful pieces, each in its own shade and luster. Only all of them can create a rainbow - even the smallest part of the arch is vital.
All these pieces are also a part of you - do you see them? If you don't see - do you feel them? There are so many of them, and they are so tiny that sometimes we forget about them or don't notice them.
We shouldn't. You know - every single particle counts.
And now here's the most exciting part - you've probably heard of the treasure that is hidden where the rainbow ends? Well, the treasure of the real rainbow is hidden in just about every particle. Look at the painting, and you will see how many fragments of gold are behind each small piece. Every part of us is worthy of our attention and love; everyone brings treasure into our lives.
Don't be afraid of dark clouds, storms, and rain - the sun always shines after it, bringing a new piece of the rainbow with its shiny treasure.
P.S .: I also hid a four-leaf clover among the treasure - this is a detail for the happiness I am sending to my grandma.
Can you find hearts and butterflies?
The painting is now in my grandma’s living room - she LOVES it. It calms her.
Treasure is more than gold and jewels - it’s about the moments, experiences, and pleasant feelings. Every part of us is precious - our knowledge, joy, emotions, eyes that can admire nature's masterpieces, and much more.