A Tallgrass Martini

After a long break from painting, I decided to finish and put this piece out. I'd been dabbling with its composition for months before I could finally figure it out. A part of this delay was the low confidence I had in it, but after seeing another piece at work, I decided to give it a go.

Artist notes: This image first came to me in a dream where a dragonfly was leading me through a field of golden vegetation; I was searching for something in that dream, but I forget what exactly. Wanting to make use of that backdrop, I tried visualizing the scene in my head over and over again until I could come up with a complimenting focus piece. For some reason, it came to me in the form of a martini glass.

Not just any glass though; with the olive at its center, a reflected / mirrored image of a martini glass representing the two sides of our souls - one side representing our public selves, and the other - our private, inner selves. The doubled up glass then forms an hourglass shape that symbolizes the finite time we have in life as we pass through these golden fields.

The final element of this image is the cherry off-center of the olive. Is that what the olive is searching for? Does it compliment the olive? Does the skewer pierce through both, or does the cherry merely float aside it, residing on just the top half of the glass? It definitely stands out, and despite being a secondary element, it occupies the absolute center of the image. But whether it harmonizes with the mixture or ruins it should be left as an subjective observation to the viewer.

So what is a Tallgrass Martini then? Perhaps an odd potion born of my weird dreams: a vodka martini with both an olive and cherry garnish :) Someone should try one this weekend and let me know how it tastes ...