Strange symbol in my painting...eeerrrieeeee...?!?

First your painting is awesome, nice work. The tree does seem to be focal point in the painting, and as you may know the tree also has served a spiritual purpose throughout history. Here is just a few, maybe this will "trigger" the answer you seek.....

- the Axis Mundi , the axis by which the world revolves linking the heaven to the Earth and the places below, it is often depicted symbolically as a tree
- the Tree of Life (otz chiim), found in the Kabbalah. There are those who believe that the Tree of Life symbol was originated in Mesopotamian culture. Regardless of where the concept originated the tree as a symbol can be found in all world religions.
- the tree that was in the Garden of Eden, whose friut was said to give everlasting life

The other thing that jumped out at me where the "three" branches. The number three in itself is often refered to as the first true magical number. There are countless examples of groups of three:

- the Holy Trinity (Christianity)
- the Triple Jewel (Buddhism)
- the Hindu pantheon (Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva)
- three is seen as the number of wisdom, understanding and knowledge
- there are three sources of karma and three types of karma
- in Tarot the number three is the number of the Empress, the embodiment of the female principle that symbolically links the heavens with earth ( see Axis Mundi above, I love how this "connects")

I truly believe that the tree in itself is the core of everything spiritual. There is to much to list if anyone is interested here is a link to start you down the path......
en.wikipedia.org...

PLPL

Originally posted by westcoast
Well, since it is a volcano i have spent a lot of time looking at, I tell you without a doubt that it is Mount Rainier erupting.

I also see a 'rock man' laying face up in the water in the bottom left corner looking at either a white blooming flower or fairy. As a previous poster, I immediately saw the cougar head coming out of the flames (left side) and perhaps a voluptuous woman laying across the top. I think there is more there too...but I haven't stared at it long enough yet.

Wonderful painting. Here is a recent image of Rainier from the same angle, but closer (from a live view cam up there). You can clearly see the glaciers in the same place:





Here is a picture that I took of it from it a different angle:





Another one I took from the air:




There are several rivers that run by it. Just to the south of it is Helens, which has a whole forrest of dead trees from its eruption.

ETA: There is also an orca jumping, blowing water in the middle of the mountain (which we have in puget sound) and i also see a partial skull just below the dead tree in the purple rocks. pretty cool

edit on 22-1-2012 by westcoast because: (no reason given)

Here is a "before" on my painting. I think you might be right, it does look ALOT alike. I didn't intentionally paint it this way, however, I have been at the top of the seattle space needle before and looked at Mt Rainier. That's awesome! I guess it made a sub-conscious stamp on my mind!

reply to post by Minori





I studied tarot for a while, and the high priestess was a card that haunted me. When I started to understand tarot, I started to dream about that card. a Celtic cross that was all the high priestess....freaky. That seemed to trigger a much better understanding on a subconscious level somehow, interesting it would be mentioned here

reply to post by Darkblade71


Very colorful and full of life picture, except for the lone tree. Life goes on is what comes to my mind as I look at your painting. Thanks for sharing your talent with us.

reply to post by RikiTiki


That was also an angle to the painting.



thank you!

reply to post by Darkblade71


Not sure about any symbols, but just wanted to say I dig the painting. What are the dimensions? I like the Sasquatch-ish rock at the bottom left, and the pastel colors create an electric dream kind of effect.
Very nice Darkblade

Peace,
spec

reply to post by speculativeoptimist


it is an 11x14 on canvas panel.

I was making due with what paints I have. It was a small paint set. I think there are maybe a total of 6 or 7 colors out of the tube. Amazing what a little mixing will do.

When I saw this it reminded me of a reoccurring dream I have had since I was a kid.

In my dream there a lots of people stand on one side of a river and on the other side of the river is a huge tree. In the dream we have to cross the river to get to the tree but there are waves in this river. There is also a bank of stacked river rocks that everyone has to climb over as well. All the people are struggling to get across, and everyone is trying to help each other but some get swept away. Once we make it to the tree, and climb it, we are safe.

Your painting looks a lot like my dream. It's a great painting though, you have great talent!

reply to post by LittleVoice731


Believe it or not, that IS a part of this! That is part of why there is almost a mirror effect or warped lensing effect on the painting. It is to represent a vision of sorts, not so much the volcano, but just being able to peer into the void and pull something out of the dream/vision world. The colors are not supposed to be totally real, it is supposed to have a surreal feel. Some of the elements of colors represent spirit energy, like lifting back a page of reality.

This is am imprint on the mind. An event that changed everything in the blink of an eye caught in a vision.

Sumerian:

cylinder seal



That's what I think about looking at the painting (tree)... )

reply to post by Lastone


Almost like the scepter in the kings hand?
or whatever that rod is he has in front of him.

The Mountain..

Mountains of Ararat

Mount_Ararat - Dormant volcanic cone in Turkey - The Iran-Turkey boundary skirts

where according to the book of Genesis, Noah's ark came to rest.





Maybe ....

reply to post by Lastone


Wow. I see the resemblance there too.



Very cool

reply to post by Darkblade71


Yes....

When I saw it .... I saw Ararat and Elohim

Hebrew

El Shaddai

Shaddai - Acadiana origin - Shaddu = Mountain

reply to post by Darkblade71


I love your painting, if I were to see this in a gallery I would buy it..very good I love the symbolism. Here are my thoughts while looking at it, the white tree looks isolated and bare I would think this represents the artist's feelings of being in some lonely place within onesself. Yet the tree is near water..when I think of water I think of it's life giving properties also the rocks give me a feeling of stability, you mentioned your wife gave you the paint set for Christmas which gives me the feeling you stay home a lot and don't associate much with outsiders, I think this is reflected in the distant trees which are below the Mountain...that group of trees to me represents the masses.

The distant sky is very dark and disturbed looking..as the dragon rises from the top of the mountain or volcano, when I look at that, it makes me feel like the world behind you...or the lone tree..is dark, foreboding and ready to be destroyed by the dragon. Yet you have painted the lone tree near the water..which to me is a symbol of life..perhaps you have felt isolated and alone lately? yet you have hope for yourself through the medium of art?

Or that you feel alone..and that the world is going to hell in a hand basket..yet their is hope..

I loved the painting Cheers Coco

I'm sorry but maybe I missed something. What is with this painting? You painted it yourself and now you look to find something symbolical that you put in there yourself?

reply to post by itscocobaby


Now THAT was an excellent analogy!




You hit that aspect perfectly!

reply to post by Darkblade71


Keep painting..keep hope alive..I really did dig the painting..I'm sure you are on your own path to sending a message through your art..Cheers Coco

Originally posted by Hellas
I'm sorry but maybe I missed something. What is with this painting? You painted it yourself and now you look to find something symbolical that you put in there yourself?

I wasn't thinking symbolically when I painted it. Not at first. I painted it, and then stepped back and took a good hard look at it, and I wondered where it came from.

I attempted to put a vision on canvas.
It was like scrying, where you stare into a bowl of water and allow things to come, and paint them as they do where you see them, and that was the end result.

It is no big deal, but to me, the images mean something on multiple levels.
So to me, that is a big deal even though it is not.
It was a metaphysical journey I took into my subconscious using acrylic paint.
And it was strange, so I shared it

reply to post by Darkblade71


Would you paint for a price?