Earlier this year I had finished this piece, "The Eye Behind the I Am" or so I thought, but it just wasn't right, so I put it away. Sometimes my work has a gestation period, and I have to wait until its ready. I loved the way the piece could be looking outward or inward through the eye shape. My question is am I looking outward to the cosmos or inward to the universe within? When I added powdered graphite to the drawing it all went south for me. As I reworked it, I decided to cover all the graphite with white paint to lighten it up, this started to look like flashes of energy or fireworks. The central eye always reminded me of a whale, the way there is such intelligence within a huge creature all contained within a small eyeball ,or is the eye the universal consciousness. This part needed more dimension so I added tracing paper and more white oil pastel.
The drawing is finished now, at least I think so. I like the additional dynamism of the marks and the stoical eye. Interestingly someone I know who meditates everyday said she sees an eye within and was very interested to see my piece.
