Delicate Balance

What is the meaning of life? That is the inspiration for this painting – Delicate Balance. When I think of the meaning of life, I think of choices, I think of the journey we take through this world and the way we manage risks with decisions we make along that journey.

I based this painting on a photo I took while bush walking on a cool moist morning in Tasmania. I loved the dew on the leaf and its survival instincts, hanging in there even after being half eaten by a caterpillar. I added an emerging butterfly to the scene, precariously balancing on its cocoon to emphasize both the next phase of the caterpiller's life, as well as the risk it has to take to progress through life.

Life is a delicate balance as we have to evaluate and manage risks at every stage of life. A butterfly emerging from the safe haven of its cocoon is taking a major risk. For until its wings are fully engorged with fluid it cannot fly, it is vulnerable to be preyed on. Lose its grip and game over, it will never fly. For this butterfly, life is a delicate balance, it’s offspring are dependent on the success of its brief adult life. To find a mate, to successfully lay eggs on an appropriate, nurturing plant with succulent leaves. It’s offspring and it’s species are dependent on the little choices and risks this butterfly takes.

Now change the scale to encompass the whole planet and it’s not too hard to visualize that life is still a delicate balance. A balancing act between success or failure. For the world as a whole, the climate dictates and supports life as we know it. With just little variations in the climate to tip the balance of temperature warmer, coral will bleach and die, plants and animals will become extinct across but, at the same time, other species will possibly prosper. Life indeed is a DELICATE BALANCE.

Please take the time to leave a comment below and tell me what you think of my painting. Don’t forget to share this page on social media.