original painting by Brooke Harker.
Artist’s Description: There are certain paintings that when made, it felt like my heart was singing. This painting was one of those. I saw the scene that inspired this work on the 4th of July. I snuck away from a group of people at a parade to walk along the beach and sit on the jetty. I smiled when the waves crash against my legs before I climbed the rocks to plant myself and watch the boats go by. I marveled at how they passed in a perfect composition. I snapped photos. I thought about the choices that I had made in my life and the choices that I would continue to make. What better time to contemplate such freedoms than the fourth of July. When I had enough of the ocean breeze and the spectacle of boats, I went to meet a dear friend to watch the fireworks. He had entered a new phase of his life that had set him free. I too paddled around in the waters of my own freedom…although I probably thrashed about more than I enjoyed the swim. The story of my connection to him wove into the inspiration for this painting. By the time the scene from the jetty made its way onto canvas, my reflections of personal freedom had only grown. In reviewing choices that I had made in my life, for better or worse I found myself both free and caged by my own thoughts and regrets. Painting has always been a way for me to set myself free. It has helped me process life and see from a different perspective. There is so much freedom that can be taken for granted, so many moments that can be resisted for the desire of alternate moments. We are each free to interpret what appears in our lives in the way we choose. There is a choice to follow an internal guidance system or be led by external sources. There is a choice to embrace or resist and consequences for the times we stray away from what we know in our depths to be true. And with all of that I say, Happy Birthday America:) Thank you for my many blessings in this land…may others recognize their blessings too and find freedom within themselves.
Brooke Harker
