Click on the photo to blow it up!
Every painting tells a story. Often my art reflects the current events in my life and my interpretation of the way I see the world.
This painting began as mural project for Keen. It is painted on 9 Fredrix Canvas gallery-wrap panels, six feet tall and 18 feet long. I painted it live during Keenfest in Salt Lake City Utah summer of 2014.
I have worked with Keen for many years. They are so much more than a shoe company, they are people striving to do everything better. Their enthusiasm is infectious, they truly inspire me to be more adventurous and their ideals push me to be better at everything I do.
When designing the painting, I began thinking of all the places that Keen shoes take people. I also thought about how these forward thinking people affected others and the world around them.
I quickly realized that this was not about shoes but was about getting out into nature, doing things to the best of your ability for the benefit of everyone, and the connection to each other and the environment.
This was a tall order so I started drawing circles.
The circles slowly began to take shape into a Flower of Life Pattern, this process was hypnotic, and I began to think of what a gift it is to be born into this beautiful world full of possibilities.
I love the water and I love surfing, all life contains water. We are 90% water, we are the clouds, seeds of information coded for life, from the joining of two circles, creates space for a third within the vesica piscis, love is transformed into a new child of the earth. Like butterflies emerging from cocoons.
We are all Miracles searching for new experiences, we are the rain that nourishes all life.
The boy on the beach represents the time when we are young, everything is amazing and new, we are constantly curious, and fearless. This is one the most amazing periods of life, I tell my kids not to be in hurry to grow up, just enjoy each age to the fullest. Enjoy all of your firsts.
When we begin our path in life we play, we grow, and we begin to realize that experiences and interaction with others are everything.
Knowledge comes from constantly pushing into the unknown and understanding that there is always something new and more to learn. The trick is to know what you really want, where do you want to go, what makes you feel good?
We are the streams and rivers flowing across the earth, we are meant to be free. We want to flow towards the things that feel good and avoid the things that feel bad. It is a constant flow, like time, always moving towards the ocean where we all began.
Hopefully with enough experiences and time you will arrive at place of interconnected reality, you realize we are only here to enjoy the ride.
Reality is being fully present and it lies in the expansion of our experiences and thoughts with others. It is the discovery that there is no separation, everything is connected, and we are all deeply rooted in the fabric of everything.
This is represented by the man in the center doing a yoga tree pose. This is also the understanding of who we really are.
We are liquid light at one with nature beyond our physical body. This is represented by the Merkabah, the conduit which your life force exists in this world, this invisible energy flows through the Flower of Life Pattern into everything it scales infinitely larger and smaller.
In this is the understanding everything is a vibration of energy, manifesting matter in five combinations of shapes, called the platonic solids. These shapes make up all elements of matter which consists of almost entirely empty space.
With this understanding everything becomes only thought which is manifesting everything.
What seems so complex is simple, everything is control over your thoughts and desire. It is the power of creativity, we are all creators of our reality. This is the knowledge to teach your children.
You are what you think, anything is possible, life is to be enjoyed, and we are all connected as one.
As time moves forward everything is in a state of renewal and transformation.
The fire and Lava represent this as the cycle of light turns to dark. The darkness and its creatures represent the path of loneliness of a lost soul who has become disconnected and alone. If he only knew to fall back into the flow where there is nothing to fear and only love.
Salmon spend their last days swimming upstream to the place of their birth. They lay their eggs in the hopes that their offspring will live on, thus continuing the cycle. Connected souls have no fear they will give everything to others and in so they will live on in their thoughts forever.
Saturn represents the unknown, and all that is left to be learned in an ever-expanding universe. There will always be more that you wanted to see and do.
It is the thought of what you did do throughout your life that counts.
The owl represents Wisdom; even in the darkness he sees joy and Love and he has the sense to follow it and flow with it. This is your path and your time.
In the end, when it’s time to return to the light, have no fear, look back on a life well lived. Smile upon the cherished memories of your experiences with all that you loved on this earth. Take joy in all that you gave of yourself to others in kindness. Your hopes, dreams, and example live on within them.
This painting was heavily influenced by the loss of my father. He is the one entering the light, I am in the middle seeing my childhood and my death, and my son stands on the beach, with his entire life in front of him.
When I think of my dad, I think of all that he gave me, I think of all the memories.
In the end that’s all that is left, experiences of shared time together. His life was well lived, he is loved. He lives on in me and my son. It is the cycle life. He took his last breaths on this earth with my Mother and all of his children holding him with love, we escorted him to the other side, and he was not alone.
I hope this painting inspires people to live life to its fullest. I hope it inspires them to be the best people they can be.
I also hope it reminds everyone just how lucky they are to be here.
Dedicated to Thomas Alphonsus Brophy, Best dad ever!
Life is Good – Drew
Sometimes just a simple painting on an old surfboard can brighten someone’s outlook on life. Art can change lives and broaden perspectives. And sometimes a kid will paint for the first time, and realize that they love it. It can be a life-changing event.
Mark Longenecker (well known tattoo artist from Cocoa Beach, FL, and InkMasters TV Show star).