I was asked to be part of an exhibit at a local gallery that would feature a wall of flamingos. The original flamingo piece that they wanted was already sold, but I offered to paint something new in its place. I sat with my empty canvas searching for inspiration when my husband chimed in with a reference to one of the most iconic movies of our childhood, The Neverending Story. The infamous scene in the swamp of sadness where Artax sinks into the quicksand. A tragic scene that if asked, anyone who grew up in the 80s will quickly unleash their memory of losing their best friend in that moment, along with Atreyu. It stuck with all of us throughout our adulthood. I was not looking to recreate that exact moment with my flamingo, but he did light some inspiration.
I poured some of my favorite colors and let the inspiration flow. I have a tendency to paint very moody backgrounds, this is just part of my soul that gets released on the canvas time after time. It became very stormy with a faint marshland taking form. As the background started to take shape, I knew exactly the composition I wanted for the flamingo. I loved the contrast of her vibrant pink feathers against the blue gray sky, bringing your focus to her and the flower. I searched for a rare orchid to paint, wanting the flamingo's attention to be on something unexpected.
For me, this painting is the story of depression. The flamingo represents each of us, as unique individuals. One of the things I've always been drawn to with flamingos is that they're not like any other bird, with their backwards bending legs, twisted neck and cartoon coloring, how is this a real animal? We are each just as unique in our own ways and with our own quirks. This flamingo walks through her sadness, described by the moody backdrop, wandering through nothing, until she stumbles across a flower that is just as rare and unique as she is. She's curious about her discovery and leans in closer to examine it. The rare orchid, appearing out of the nothing, makes her step out of her sadness and feel something else, something hopeful.
It can be easy for us to be overwhelmed by the sadness we walk through each day, but if we just keep moving, we will find that something, or someone, as unique as us to relate to and bring us hope.
As I shared the finished piece with my trusted circle for feedback, I was surprised how moved people felt towards it. I was worried it was too moody for the show, but it was the piece I made and I was happy with it. Opening night, as I saw it hung on the great wall of flamingos, that feeling struck me even harder as I scanned the other images of tropical playfulness. She was certainly different among her peers, which ironically was the point of the painting. As the night continued, we admired the rest of the work in the exhibit before I took another spin around the wall. To my surprise, as I came back to my moody bird, I found a little red dot next to my title card. Someone else, someone as rare and unique as me perhaps, fell in love with it and bought it. I never found out who the mystery buyer was, but I couldn't be happier to know that there was a relatable soul in the crowd.
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