Reflecting Pool

Description

Acrylic on Canvas, 30″ by 30″

Jaye likes to joke that she can’t draw a straight line, and water, it turns out, agrees with her. Water never moves in a straight line, it bends, ripples, doubles back on itself, catches light from a hundred different angles at once. This is the Water Element, the Element of depth and reflection, where thoughts move through us the same way water moves, constantly, without needing to be caught or held onto. This piece is an invitation into that kind of thinking, the quiet, nuanced, unhurried noticing that happens when you stop trying to arrive at a conclusion and simply let your mind move the way water does. Not grasping at any one thought, just watching them pass, each one catching a little light before it’s gone. Jaye painted the surface of that state, all the small variations and depths that are easy to miss if you’re moving too fast to see them.

The Contemplation: Sit with the piece and let your thoughts move without reaching for any of them. Notice the nuance in your own stillness, the way water never needs to be straight to be clear.