The Gardener

Quakers have a long and outstanding tradition of expertise in gardening, botany and farming which perfectly suits their appreciation of things both practical and beautiful. This painting is of a dear friend in her garden. A birthright Quaker, she tends property that has been in Quaker hands since the early 1700’s and was farmed by her parents and grandparents. Although it seems to capture a fleeting moment in time, this piece contains quite a difficult visual puzzle. The rock wall, psychologically the least important part, takes up most of the painting. The gardener is barely glimpsed through the wrought iron grate. Despite this ‘reversal’ of perspective, there is no doubt of the focal point of the painting - the gardener. I see this as an embodiment of the Chinese ideal of the Tao which is also very close to the Quaker concept of the “inner light”. Briefly stated - the further you go into individual personality the more you realize a connection to everyone and everything. This momentary awareness often gives one a feeling of ‘lightness’ and the visual metaphor for that state in this particular painting is the gardener herself being dissolved by the light surrounding her.