"Hope"

Hope is the thing...

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.

- Emily Dickinson


This is my submission to Ebsq`s 3 Poets Show
With it I`m attempting to depict my favorite Emily Dickinson poem in a manner that is very personal to me.
It was inspired by a recent discussion with a friend of mine who was having a hard time finding meaning in his life.
I told him we all have to find our own meaning in this life one way or another.
I don`t think my answer was very satisfying to him.

Shortly after this discussion I read the prospectus for this 3 Poets Show and immediately thought of this poem.
It occured to me then that the only thing that enables us to even search for that meaning in our lives is the hope that we can indeed find it.
I wish my friend would realise that he still has this hope in his possession.
He has just to lift his eyes from the darkness he`s in to see it.

This is a 16"x20" Acrylic Painting in Canvas. I used a combination of methods to complete the heavily textured,highly contrasted figure and background. Most of the painting was created using a palette knife while much of the surrounding shadows and darker areas were done by applying layers of thin acrylic washes.