Symbolism

            Symbols have a trick of stealing the show away from the thing they stand for.

                            Henry S. Haskins

                To save you a few clicks on your iPad I will tell you that lilies symbolically signify that the soul of the deceased has been restored to the state of innocence.  I don't exactly see that when I look at a lily but I can glimpse the idea of new life and purity.  Thoughts like the restoration of innocence to a deceased person or even new beginnings weren't exactly on my mind, however, as I worked on this painting.  I was too focused on getting the right colors, the right perspective, the right composition.  Only when the painting was completed and had sat in my studio for quite a while did I take the time to look up and find out exactly what made the lily an Easter favorite.  Never again, I thought upon reading the Wikipedia post, will I look at a lily the same way.  When I took out my camera and began to take pictures of this painting I was also struck by the idea that I had been missing out on seeing the symbolic meaning of so many things I come across every day, many of which are things I am either creating or doing, not just things that I touch or pass by every day.  While the world around us may seem to us a beautiful place adding the icing of symbolism can make it a place of wonder and peace as well.  So these days if you catch me bent over my iPad it just means I'm trying to figure out what exactly I'm looking at, touching, tasting, smelling..........well, you get it