JANINE GOOD

Irresistible Yearning    A Significant Painting

The interesting thing that happened with the painting of Irresistible Yearning was that it revived a childhood memory.

A phenomenon called Pareidolia often happens when I paint this kind of imagery, in this case a snake and a footprint appeared while I painted. The memory was of picking blackberries in a rural environment on the edge of the suburbs when a snake settled on my bare sandaled foot, I was about 10 years old. I froze and took the opportunity to really observe the snake and the beautiful pattern of its coppery scales shining in the sun. This was my first realisation that my interest in Art made me different - most people would panic.

 

I went on to explore this image in more figurative detail in 2008 Ripe For Picking and it became a significant symbol of experiences in my young girl’s life.

 

This became the title piece for my Convent Gallery Exhibition

Snake At My Feet 2008.

And so began a body of work referencing Nature in a surreal and sometimes symbolic way that has been sustaining my interest and inspiration for more than two decades.

         

Ripe For Picking 2008

Charcoal on grey paper 80x57cm

A Snake at my Feet

Pastel & Acrylic on silver board 100x57cm