‘Fallen Cedar / Rising Dragon’

Oil on Canvas Board  12″ X 16″

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This fallen cedar, toppled perhaps a hundred years ago, still commands such a presence.
It draws my attention, calling me into a deep contemplation of it
when I come upon the sight on the bank of the creek in the forest.

I see Celtic knot-work in the patterns of the tangled roots ~ this speaks to me of ancestors.

I smell the richness of the oh-so-slow return to the earth, its mother;

the ancient tree providing sustenance and mothering, in turn, to the myriads of mossy & microscopic lives that blanket its every surface

~ this speaks to me of the cycles of regeneration and immortality.

I feel reverence ~ this speaks to me of sovereignty and power.

~

Then I see the dragon, rising, and understand;

now I know what to paint to best express this experience.

~

Dragons are symbolic of the recurring cycles of death and rebirth, of ancient subterranean energies stirring.

They are guardians of treasures and keepers of secrets.

They are wise and clairvoyant; embodiments of life force, great potency and primal energies.

Cedars are symbolic of longevity and nobility, rebirth, purity, and sublime loftiness; entrances into sacred realms.

The upside-down tree, roots reaching skyward, symbolizes the esoteric return journey.

Celtic Knot-work is symbolic of connectedness, immortality and continuity.

~~~

~Barbara Brown, from Volume I, SYLVAN REFLECTIONS, Wanderings, Paintings & Ponderings From the Forest, Page 25