Storms are more often than not considered disruptive. An upheaval that shutters the prior status quo of quietude and what we like to call “order” in our lives. It could be seen as the acceleration of entropy or even entropy being fiercely revealed, reminding us of our frailty and lack of control.

Be it a literal storm, carrying thunders, heavy rain and harsh winds, or be it an overturning event in our life, that blows us emotionally away, storms get us out of our comfort zone and they can even make us lose our balance. And here exactly lies their purpose and beauty. We often need that harsh kick in the butt, to get us moving out of our comfortable stagnation and move to a path that maybe otherwise we would never dare to, but we definitely as it turns out need to.

…I seem to get more philosophical than I intended to or suits this blog’s purpose 😁.

The reason I write all these, is because, as with all life events, there is no good or bad, positive or negative. It’s our own perception that gives meaning and colour to what we experience. Keeping that in mind, I always try to find the “positive” behind what at first glance I might consider as “negative”, the lesson that lies in the “misfortune”, the benefit that can be derived out of a “loss”.

What I am trying to say – in too many words, apparently 😅- is that that’s what prompted me to create my work of art called “Lean on me”.

Two summers ago, I went out on a walk, after an actual storm, whose fierce winds brought quite a few damages to the nearby beach bars. I was really inspired by the disruption of the scenery, the misplacement of familiar objects looking totally different than they are “supposed” to look. Of course, I took photos. I wanted to capture the unfamiliarity and beauty of this new “out of order” arrangement of things.

One of these photos was the inspiration, the ignition point for this artwork: two umbrellas fallen off their standing poles, laying helpless on the sand and pebbles, leaning one against the other, as if trying to protect one another from the devastation that hit them so suddenly. Cuddled up patiently until the storm passes, until they are brought back again to their usual height and posture.

I wanted to capture and portray the beauty behind the “catastrophe”, the balance in the “unbalanced” and how flitting every moment and situation actually is. As always, “the beauty is in the eyes of the beholder” and I would also argue that the same goes to viewing things as positive vs. negative*.

I cropped the photo, keeping only the upper parts of the umbrellas, printed this on paper and then worked on this canvas with acrylic and ink marker.

*I guess, the beach bar owner would disagree with me on a list of points, but maybe this event made him more proactive for future events or, at least, let’s say, I just hope that he found something positive out of the situation as well.