pure watercolor on 100% cotton rag

Water rapids cut through the earth and turn to mist. Water - the element of emotion and intuition - can erode even the hardest rock, though it takes time. For example, the Appalachians were once as tall as the Himalayas, but over millions of years of erosion, had become soft, rolling hills with smooth peaks. And yet, sometimes this process is violent, as water rushes through, picking up pieces of earth and wearing the rock down with itself, creating potholes, cutting paths. Are your feet planted firmly on the rock, as you watch your emotions rush by? Or are you carried away by the turbulent rapids?

pure watercolor on 100% cotton rag, 9x12

Air - the element of ideas, intellect and communication - which blankets the earth, is pierced by earth - the element of the tangible, practical, and logic. The earth grounds the air and anchors it. Without air, earth becomes nothing more than another rock flying through space, rigid in form and without life. Intellect and the communication of ideas are what propel humanity forward in innovation, but the earth is always there to provide balance and reason. Are you down to earth, or stuck in the clouds?

Pure watercolor on 100% cotton rag, 9x12

There are traditional spiritual correlations with each of the elements - in western spirituality, water correlates with emotion and intuition. Here we see the water’s surface, the various swirls marked by sea foam, and the viewer’s eyes are tempted to travel all over the painting as it tries to make sense of what’s going on (as one might with the confusing nature of emotions. However, the darker and lighter areas of the water indicate there is something going on beneath the surface - areas that are shallow as well as those which drop off into the deep. What lies underneath the surface?

Pure watercolor on 100% cotton rag, 9x12

Title inspired by the song of the same name by Moby, which I was listening to as I was completing this piece. “We who hate oppression must fight against the oppressors. Power is not shared. Power is taken.”

This painting depicts a violent battle between the joint forces of earth and fire against water. Nature is violent. Without death and destruction, there would be no change, no opportunity for growth. This violent and deadly battle is in the process of creating new land. We are witness to the formation of islands. If this battle did not continue, water would eventually erode the island into oblivion.

Pure watercolor on 100% cotton rag, 9x12

How long before this abandoned mining town in the Namibian desert is lost and forgotten, as air and earth work together to slowly bury it in sand?

Elements: earth and air