MONICA BRYANT

My wild tangent is to look to nature for hope. In March and April of this year it was quiet outside. Road noises were nearly absent, and I didn’t hear planes and helicopters flying overhead. I noticed birdsongs. Although I feel concern for people losing their jobs and income, I welcomed the slower pace that emerged. I have a cabinet of the picture files my artist mother had collected over the years. I randomly chose to use her images of a cardinal and a goldfinch to add to my mixed media paintings. Emily Dickinson’s poem Hope is the thing with feathers powerfully expresses the persistence of beauty in our world.

“Hope” is the thing with feathers -
That perches in the soul -
And sings the tune without the words -
And never stops - at all -

And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -
And sore must be the storm -
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm -

I’ve heard it in the chillest land -
And on the strangest Sea -
Yet - never - in Extremity,
It asked a crumb - of me.

My painting Speak Up includes a Goldfinch sitting on a purple cornflower or echinacea purpurea. The pattern above from an Indian block print suggests lines of music to me. To see a goldfinch, is a positive and optimistic sign. I feel we should speak up and sing our song.

The Cardinal has symbolized many things to people. I saw one three times this summer. I read that this might be a sign “that you might be doubting your strengths and the bright red bird is a reminder to check your confidence and move forward no matter the obstacles in your path.” I took that meaning as true for me and a reminder to all to know our power and strength. Hence the title We Are Strong.