..for there is something about being in water that alters my mood, gets my thoughts going as nothing else can...Swimming gave me a sort of joy, a sense of well-being so extreme that it became at times a sort of ecstasy. -- Oliver Sacks
Oliver Sacks writes of the soothing nature of being in water. It is this intrinsically soothing quality of water that I wish to evoke in this series of pieces. It is not just the comforting feeling that the beauty of a pool, stream or the ocean can elicit that I want to convey. I also want to spark the viewer's memory of the calming effect of being in water and of the soothing sound of water. My pieces provide a pool of water, within our anxiety ridden and tension filled environment that can allow us to momentarily escape to a more soothing spot.
Water is only one aspect of the pieces in this series; it is the common thread between the works, the soothing spot within all the pieces. Surrounding the pools of water are areas that are to be soothing or up lifting as well. I have chosen luscious grass, elaborately stylized flower beds, blowing leaves, bouquets and piles of fruit and vegetables.
Some of the pieces in this series contain barriers to the soothing garden and pool that makes it difficult, if not impossible to reach the soothing pool of water. The barrier represents the stress in our lives that leads us to seek out the relaxing effect of a pool of water. The barriers include a tsunami wave and a storm surge.
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