The Hare - Original Painting OOAK

THE WILD KNOWING

There are times when logic is incredibly useful.

And then there are times when your whole body is quietly saying:

Nope. Not this way.

The hare understands this.

She doesn't convene a committee.
She doesn't make a pros and cons list.
She doesn't need six friends to validate the weird feeling she's getting.

She listens.

And then she moves.

The Wild Knowing is about instinct. That tiny voice underneath all the noise that somehow knows when to stay still, when to leap, when to change direction and when to run like absolute hell.

I love the hare because she holds two things that we don't always think belong together: softness and wildness.

She's vulnerable without being helpless.
Gentle without being tame.
Watchful without living in fear.

And those ridiculous magnificent ears? She's paying attention to everything.

I painted her emerging from layers of earthy gold, ochre and deep, bruised colour, almost as though she belongs to the landscape more than she's standing in front of it. There are flashes of blue, pink and yellow running through her body, because I didn't want her neat or realistic.

I wanted her alive.

A little strange. A little scrappy. Ready to bolt off the canvas at the first sign of nonsense.

This piece is for the person learning to trust themselves again.

The one who has overridden their instincts because something looked good on paper.

Who has stayed when they wanted to go.

Said yes while something inside whispered no.

Or talked themselves out of something wonderful because it didn't make enough sense.

The hare's reminder is beautifully simple:

Pay attention.

You know more than you think you do.

And when that wild little voice inside you says GO...

maybe, for once, don't argue with her.