Acrylic on canvas – 12 x 9,5 inch – Unique work

Scotland holds a very special place in my heart. It’s a country I visited many times as a child, teenager, and young adult. It’s been over thirty years since I’ve been there. I never had the opportunity, and I also admit to being a little afraid of being disappointed, of not seeing again, of not experiencing what, at the time, was so important to me.

This painting appeared to me suddenly. I let my whole being speak for itself, choosing what it wanted to express. This is the story of a woman and a man. He struggles, wants to change her mind. He does everything to make her stay a little longer. He promises her the earth. He is gentle, kind, like never before. But she is not fooled. She knows him inside and out. She knows how he acts to get what he wants. How he has manipulated her for so long. He is simply an expert, I won’t say more, that is not the point of this story.

It’s more of a story about freedom, the choice to live, to feel, to desire. She’s at the end of her rope, she knows it. She’s bleeding. Her brain can’t take it anymore, it refuses. So it runs away, it leaves her before dying for good. Then, in the middle of a distant whirlwind, an enormous shape appears, its mouth open. It’s terrifying, and yet she’s not afraid, not this time. She’s intrigued. Is it real? Is it an illusion she’s created?

At her knees, is that the ocean? A stream? A pond? She’s completely wrong. Her intuition tells her something else. She closes her eyes and suddenly, as if by magic, she finds herself plunged into the past. She’s at the edge of a lake, with her brother, and he wants to scare her by announcing the arrival of the monster. It’s for real, as soon as a seagull flies in the sky, the monster is not far away. And inevitably, she raises her head and sees the bird. She starts screaming, crying, stamping her feet. She’s young, it’s such an easy game. How mean this was.

Anyways, we are today, and now she is in Scotland, on the shores of Loch Ness, and it is the monster who comes to find her, to free her from this destructive grip. She is saved by her memories, the extraordinary earthly elements. She is alive.