I would very much like to welcome my newest piece to my Fine Art lineup, and that’s “Fire.”
As quoted from the Fineartamerica.com page: “A piece both inspired by Yngwie Malmsteen’s “Fire” and the release of my own blocks hindering my creative fire. The woman feels the ecstatic joy of release from the chains around her heart and soul-fire, and the flames of transformation burst forth light within the darkness. She is like the hanged-man of the tarot now reversed—out of stasis and with new, spiritual vision to carry on through her journey. Also, in tree pose, she stands rooted in her true being while her ‘branches’ exalt in the freedom from one’s cages. May she awaken your own inner fire and help you reach your true potential.”
As stated, the piece started off as just a quick inspiration from Yngwie Malmsteen’s “Fire” song, which isn’t one of his best, but this was the image I felt while listening to it. It also coincided with my own creative burst after being in a locked-down dead-zone creatively for entirely too long. It’s funny, because I started working on this piece months ago, and I would periodically get stuck on it coinciding with something I was stuck on in my personal life. I guess I finally got past those blocks because the piece is done!
The pose was originally meant to have the legs straight down, but every time I looked in the mirror to see how my legs would look in that pose, I felt the uncontrollable urge to draw one foot up. It reminded me of the Hanged-Man card of the tarot but in reverse. I started to feel like this is the powerful burst of spiritual fire after the Hanged-Man learns that all the material possessions in the world cannot fill a spirit (there are many interpretations of this card, but this is the one I’ve come to know.)
My mentor then saw this and said the woman was in Yoga “Tree Pose,” which I looked up, and the pose is about rooting and balance, staying rooted and strong but waving free as the breeze blows. I felt it was pretty on target; here she is rooted in her true being and is now free to express her innermost depths and share them with the world.
There is also the concept of the light bursting through the darkness. I myself have no problem with the darkness of night, but this is more about the darkness within the self, the one you feel when you’re locked down by whatever cell it is that holds you: fear, low self-esteem, past trauma, bad relationships, poor career choice, or just an experience that has worn out its usefulness and needs to be shed for something new. The freedom the woman feels with her inner blocks removed bursts through that darkness and brings warmth and light where there had only been the dank cold before. The joy on her face says it all—a freed soul feels glorious!
I used Rembrant soft pastel for this piece with some iridescent Sennelier for accents: around the central burst of light and some spaces around the surrounding fire. The camera caught the light hitting the iridescent pastel just perfectly and created an even more powerful burst in this copy than in the original. I did minor lighting and color correction in Corel Painter (cameras are fickle creatures, or at least mine is…), but the rest is the result of the pastel and the Colour Shaper tools I use to deepen the color, make blends, and create the irregular pattern of the fire (and apparently, listening to either heavy metal or Mozart for some reason aids in the powerful method needed to turn chalky swirls into vibrant flames.)
All in all, I’m very pleased with the piece. It draws me just like a campfire in the night and warms my soul. I hope it does the same for you, too. Tell me, have you ever felt locked up as I once have? How did your own creative “Fire” burst forth and what came of it? Are you still looking for your own key? Does this piece inspire you, and if so, in what way?