Element Painting #30, Red/Fire on Mesa
2021
Watercolor on Bhutan Mitsumata Rice Paper
16 x 32 inches
Derived from the color iconography of Tibetan Buddhist Prayer Flags, in which blue=sky, green=water, yellow=earth, red = fire, these paintings are made by applying layers of watercolor paint over a period of several days or weeks. Returning to the most fundamental elements of the earth's being, and ours, the pigment is the prayer. The pigment gives the weight to the paintings. Confronting a sense of helplessness as we watch the earth burn, a pandemic rage, hunger spread, refugees fleeing for their lives in an inhospitable world, I look to the elements as a guide.
All images copyright Jill O'Bryan