'I am the moth and my love for you is the flame'

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Original oil painting on a canvas stretcher. This piece measures 48" x 30" x 1.5" (122cm x 76cm x 3.8cm) and comes in a white floating frame ready to hang on your wall. Size including frame is 50” x 32” (127cm x 81cm).

This piece is signed on the reverse and comes varnished for lasting protection.

I painted this piece in response to receiving news that my five years in psychotherapy would be drawing to a close without having any choice in this matter. I became interested in an idea which I first heard whilst watching a Tracey Emin documentary that birds carry the souls of the dead. In this painting I have used birds to symbolise the various stages in my therapy. The bird on the right represents the past and my therapeutic relationship I have with my therapist. The bird sitting on the woman’s shoulder represents the present and is symbolic of me looking back to the past and wanting to hold onto this relationship. It is has become one of the most important relationships in my life. The bird on the left represents me flying into an unknown future, uncertain and alone without my therapist. It is part of a series of paintings I am creating that tell the story of my journey through therapy. Most of all it is about love, and a reminder of the high price we pay for it.