My husband and I no longer do much traveling. With our vision problems, our driving is limited, and with 5 cats to care for, staying home is easier than finding someone to come in and care for our furry friends while we’re gone. Besides, we would miss our kitties too much if we went away for even a few days.
In the past, though, we did make occasional trips, often visiting Tennessee where my husband has family. One memorable trip was to the Smoky Mountains. This took place in 2022 when we had only one cat, so arranging for her care in our absence wasn’t quite so challenging.
One of the highlights of the trip — I’d long yearned to see the Smoky Moutains — was a visit to Rocky Falls, a gorgeous waterfall that is often photographed, and which has inspired countless artists like me. I took a few pictures for reference and started an oil painting soon after we returned home.
The creative process is messy. One of my favorite sayings is that “Creativity is making a mess and then cleaning it up..” For me, that best describes the way art works. And make no mistake about it, completing the “Rocky Falls” landscape was messy, indeed.
I began with several composition studies, working from my photos to find the right viewpoint for the painting. Next came a series of value studies. These were very, very quick sketches in my sketchbook to consider the different “tonal qualities” for the painting. In other words, these sketches were designed to guide me in the use of lights and darks.
Messy? Yes. Hardly anything more than scribbles, as you can see!
“Value” is one of the essential elements of art, and many instructors will tell you that it’s the most important. We’re told to “push our values”, to be sure our “lights are light” and our “darks are dark”. And in between these two extremes, we’ll find many shades of “medium value”.
To me, this is much of the meaning of tarot’s Temperance card. It’s a card of extremes, and more to the point, a card that teaches us how to bring these extremes together into a whole, how to reconcile opposites, how to find that “middle ground” in the situations we face in life.
And so it was that as I was creating “Beyond the Garden Gate”, my mind went back to Tennessee, back to Rocky Falls, back to the swirling waters coming together as if being poured out by cosmic hands. I remembered my value studies, my explorations of light and dark, and I recalled the importance of seeing this “complete range” of values. It’s true not only in art classes and studios; it’s a guiding principle in life.
The original “Rocky Falls” painting is oil 11 x 14.
To make the image suitable for the deck, I used digital technology to “convert” the painting style to watercolor.
For me, this card reflects the creative process itself. It speaks to the need to recognize extremes and to bring them together. Just as the water flows over these rocks, our creative energies surge forth and pour out into reality. And of course, every time I see this card, I’m transported back to the Smoky Mountains, back to a cool morning, back to my beautiful memories of Rocky Falls.
