Colour Barcode

I painted this on a prophetic art retreat about 8 or 9 years ago. I unusually had awoken from sleep with a vague image of stripes of different colours. It was strange, as I didn’t know where the idea came from and I had soon forgotten about it as I got up and on with my day. But then came the quick warm up task we were given - paint something with as many colours as you can, have fun with colour we were told. The image came rushing back to my mind, and so fairly quickly, I created the picture above. I used all the paints I had brought with me to the retreat, and then later drew around each line of paint with a fineliner. 

I didn’t really understand what it was about this painting that I liked, or where the idea came from. Over the years I would get it out and look at it. Unlike other paintings I created as warm up exercises we did that week, I kept this one, knowing there was something about it. 

One day, the meaning of it became clear. I like life to be ordered, straight, like a black and white barcode. It’s controlled and easy to use. But life is much more like the colour barcode I painted. It’s different colours, it’s messy, it isn’t ordered or straight or neat and tidy. Sometimes I need the reminder to embrace the colour barcode that is life rather than wishing it was all black and white. And that’s what this painting means to me. I’ve tried to recreate it since, but it never has the same freedom that I had when creating it for that warm-up exercise years ago. I’ve included it in my postcard set ‘Food for the Soul’ which you can find here.