“Message Behind the Shield” 11 x 32” Watercolor & Gouache on Paper
The years pass… now it is 2011!  Markers for events from each year on this earth have been left by mankind, and continue to be discovered and analyzed today.  A life lived, a need to record it, appears to be a human trait.

Objects contain stories, and nothing sparks my curiosity more than ancient artifacts.  Stories in stone are found engraved into rock walls, called petroglyphs, all across the region in which I live.  These amazing images were apparently placed there in ceremony or to convey a message.  They continue to hold importance today, despite the fact that their original meaning has been lost to time.

The petroglyphs depicted in this painting are found at the Freemont Indian State Park in Utah.  The prominence of these carvings tell a story that modern man can only infer from, yet speaks to all just the same.  Pictured on the rock walls are many circular shapes, suggesting shields and ceremony.  The prominence of spirals in many petroglyphs samples tells of the importance this symbol had.

Whether these carvings told a story of battle or were a warning to safeguard those who came upon them later, the circular shield is added to the painting to emphasize mankind’s desire for safety and protection: mankind’s need to record the story and to convey a message.