wild horses + true nature

I've got you, 14x33 (diptych), acrylic on canvas, available HERE

While spending several  summers observing the wild horses at Theodore Roosevelt National Park, this is what these observations  are teaching me: it is possible to return to our own true nature.  

These “wild” horses are thriving.  Many feel obligated to identify them as feral.  This got me thinking.  This was their magic.  These beings had survived all the stages of recovering from domestication.  How did they get from there to here?  I started to think about the cultural conditioning, indoctrination, the desire to conform or, even more simply, how most of us as adults lose touch with our inner child.   I started to see parallels between these horses and the human experience.  As I began  painting, I noticed that each painting represented a stage I thought necessary in stepping away from the influence of others (family patterns, societal and cultural restrictions, etc.) while turning more towards embracing ourselves as unique individuals. For an individual to work deliberately at returning to  their true nature, this return most likely will include adversity, courage and dedication.  And these horses are our promise (or at least, mine) that it can be done.

16x12, acrylic on canvas, available HERE