Symbols

This piece was born from a feeling that came over me during the cold, wintry days of being stuck indoors, constricted under layers of wool socks and heavy clothes.  As I gazed out of my back window, overlooking the icy pond, a forest of skeleton trees, and bare, brown pasture I felt like a prisoner in my home, not wanting to go out into the cold.  I was longing for the feeling of freedom that comes with the beginning of summer.  The warmth of the sun on the skin, sandals that give wiggle room for the toes, and clothing that allows for the more graceful movements of a playful doe rather than a waddling penguin.  I imagined how the Native American ancestors must have felt living amongst all the wildness of nature.  Running through fields and forests.  Being grateful for all the gifts the Earth has to give.  As I stand there in my itchy, winter clothing I picture myself finger painting warrior markings onto my face before charging into a full speed, barefoot run across grassy wildflower fields and howling with the same passion a wolf calls to the moon.  The wolf symbolized freedom, passion, and the desperate desire to be back out in nature in my daydream. 

This painting is very symbolic.  Not only is the wolf symbolic of a feeling and a desire, the use of color expresses my perspective of the winter season.  The white background represents the white of snow.  The use of blue represents cold, while the pops of color are a longing for the colors of the warmer seasons soon to come.  Familiar symbols are integrated into the painting, just as they are integrated into our everyday lives.  Symbols are not always characters or hieroglyphic-looking images, they can also be animals, colors, flowers, and the list goes on.  They are everywhere and everything.  This painting is my symbol for a sense of freedom and a call to be back out in nature. 

-Katy L. Casillas-Gray, (KLCG) artist