As 2020 Leaves
By C.J. Lori | December 31, 2020
As we say goodbye to 2020, we reflect on all we have lost and all we still hope for. I remembered this painting and felt it captured my thoughts. Like this willow, several of the trees I’ve painted over the years no longer exist. For a while, I thought perhaps I wielded the brush of doom. Of course, many more of the trees I have painted still exist, but we are all wired to notice what’s gone. As I am often forced to do, I remembered my tiny place in the universe, and I embraced the randomness of life.
C.J. Lori, Winter Getaway, oil on cradled panel, 30″ x 30″ x 2″ 2012
It is too easy to take things personally, and too hard. My dad taught me to keep things in perspective and maintain the long view. I still lean on that. I let go of 2020 knowing this too shall pass. With hope in my heart that we will learn and grow from these challenges, and the belief that in a year we will be hugging our family and friends again.
(Winter Getaway is currently on loan to WBUR Boston, through the Fort Point Arts Community Lending Program.)
Copyright © 2020 C.J. Lori
C.J. Lori is an oil painter living in Brookline, Massachusetts. Her work reflects her interest in literature, anthropology and psychology, as well as an abiding fascination with the natural world. She has exhibited in solo and group shows throughout New England, and in New York and Chicago, including the Danforth Museum in OFF THE WALL, and Figure, Fantasy and Illusion, Selections from the Arthur S. Goldberg Collection. She won first prize in Paint!, a national exhibition at the South Shore Arts Center. Ms. Lori is represented by 13 Forest Gallery in Arlington, Massachusetts and Array Contemporary in Boston.