The inspiration for this painting was a butterfly, light and whimsical. We feel a sense of magic when we see a butterfly, marvel in their beauty and watch them flutter on a very non linear path. Accompanied by a powerful quote, the painting exemplifies the juxtaposition between strength and beauty, grace and grit. "They whispered to her, you cannot withstand the storm. She whispered back... I am the storm."
My interpretation of the concept is a mirror image of the butterfly, physical body on the left and emotional/spiritual body on the right side. The physical body is deeper in color where the spiritual body has an overlay of gold. There are 16 hearts representing being 16 years old when the car accident happened. The anniversary of the accident on 7/3 is represented by the hearts between the butterflies 3 purple and 7 teal, the 3rd day of the 7th month. These hearts also represent the space between our physical experiences and how we respond to them. The spiritual/emotional butterfly contains the call and response quote on the top and bottom wings. "I am the storm" is repeated 11 times, for each inch of the Desmoid Tumor. Storm is the only word that is visible outside of the butterfly to catch the attention of the viewer... this isn't just a butterfly or pretty painting, it is symbolic of major life experiences that were hard. It felt like a storm and you and she fought the storm with storm like grace and grit.
As a whole the painting reads as one butterfly initially because we are both our physical and spiritual beings. It is very important that the bodies and wings are identical in heart placement and teal ribbon placement. The swoops on the wings are different because we process our experiences in both our physical bodies and our emotional bodies. The bodies have a heart open posture with chest and gaze lifted showing confidence, determination and power. They are full of color and life. The energy of the two being in sync flows freely from them depicted by the gold swoops.
Together they are a beautiful, graceful, light and airy storm.
“Love is the bond created at the heart of shared experience”
Can you relate to the butterflies in this painting?