About the artwork
The vast majority of every well is underground, plunging hundreds of feet below ground. This painting depicts not only the part of the well that is visible above ground, but also the dark depths that remain unseen. I chose a highly vertical composition to emphasize how deep our emotions, especially our grief, can go. The image of a “light in the well” is an image of a light shining in those hidden depths. The light in the well is a small, insignificant light, unseen and seemingly disconnected from the events visible above ground. And yet, this small light is powerful, just like the unexpected ray of hope we often feel in the midst of grief and devastating emotions. Any diagram of a cross-section of a well shows that a well’s water is connected to another stream of water, a source of water deep underground. In this painting I allude to that hidden source of water, one more reminder that no matter how low our pain, there is a source of hope and love that goes even lower in order to find us there.
