Hello everyone;
Today I'll be showing you part of a painting I'm currently working on, which, God willing, will soon be finished. It depicts a boat dropping anchor on a beach by the sea.
Visually, we see a dark, almost black, metal boat anchor resting on the beige sand of a beach, at the water's edge. The anchor is partially embedded in the sand, rising towards the top of the image. The sea is represented in a vibrant turquoise blue with dynamic waves, white foam, and splashes. The movement of the water as it laps at the sand is clearly visible. Reflections and bubbles of water are painted around the anchor, creating a realistic and fresh effect, suggesting that the anchor has just been dropped. The style is impressionistic, perhaps even semi-realistic, contemporary.
The technique used:
Somewhat thick acrylic paint on canvas. The impasto is pronounced on the foam and waves, creating depth and light.
The water is skillfully rendered to give a transparent effect, movement, and reflections; the anchor has a realistic metallic appearance with shadows and highlights. It's a meticulous detail that reinforces the calm and gentle maritime atmosphere.
The artwork seems to express that amidst life's tumult, there are moments of grounding, peace, and silence.
In a more imaginative and symbolic sense, dropping anchor in the sand is a conscious choice to pause for a moment in a place that is not eternal. The sand slips, changes with the tides and the wind: this reminds us that all stability in material or emotional life is relative. Spiritually, it invites us to accept impermanence while still choosing to take root. It is an act of trust. Dropping anchor on the beach marks the temporary end of external navigation, allowing us to enter a phase of rest, integration, and contemplation. We move from perpetual motion to inner grounding, both mental and physical.
The beach is a place between land and sea. Dropping anchor in the sand can also signify a return to our origins, to simplicity, to nature. This can represent: Grounding in the present, Connecting to Mother Earth, The need for inner stability.
Dropping anchor in the sand means stopping here, on this shifting boundary between the vastness of the ocean and the solidity of the earth. No more fleeing, no more fighting against the currents. I temporarily root myself in the present, with all its impermanence, to better connect with what is essential. My journey continues, but for now, I rest in trust.
This gesture can also be seen as an act of healing: after a long journey (trials, intense spiritual quest),
The jet of water produced after the grounding is represented schematically as a flying butterfly. The butterfly here is white, symbolizing inner transformation, the death of the old self, rebirth after hardship, grief, or illness, and the ability to rise above material problems.
The white color of the butterfly is a sign of purity, spiritual guidance, and angelic presence.
Thank you; take care.
