The Lesson

This painting is called “The Lesson.”

The branches of the Tree of Life spread in a graceful arc, leafy green across a clear sky.

The intricate mass of deep roots interweave around scarlet and black rocks into the red clay earth.

And at the base of the tree, having hiked together to reach this spot, stand two figures, a parent and child. The parent reaches out to place a hand on the child’s back as they talk. Here is the lesson–the imparting of wisdom from parent to child.

I imagine the content of the lesson is in the symbolism of the Tree of Life itself–the way all life on Earth is connected and the way things circle back upon themselves in cycles and patterns.