Original watercolor and drawing by Melanie Weidner
Created in 2011 & 2015 — 16 x 22 inches
Watercolor, graphite, colored pencil
.
This image is also available in 11x14 Standard Art Prints and 18x24 Giclée Art Prints.
.
Statement:
In the summer of 2015, I found this missing painting in a box! It was unfinished from 2011 and I’d forgotten all about it. I’d considered it a failed attempt, along with Protect the Emergence, for what would later be the final image Wrestling with the Angel chosen for a commissioned book cover.
But when I rediscovered this third drawing in the back of a closet, I knew it was time to revisit my “failure” and finish the painting. I added the wings, the background, and most importantly, the halo on the wrestling figure. Four years earlier, I didn’t understand as well that our struggles are just as sacred and holy as our successes… so I’d left the wrestler bare. At last, she felt honored and held in the embrace of self-compassion.
What challenges might you have put away in a closet and judged harshly? What wise or spiritual part of you might offer your struggles a compassionate and healing gaze?
.
.
Allow extra time for special shipping.
Thank you for supporting meaningful art-making from Listen For Joy!
.
.
