There is something so grounding about the sunrise. No matter what is going on in my own life or in the world, every morning the sun paints the sky and the earth with shifting color, light, and life. It is irrepressible, it answers to nobody, it is pure freedom.
I am constantly in flux with my sleep schedule. I crave the night energy, the darkness, the solitude, the light of the moon or her absence. Yet I also crave that initial wash of color in the day. That moment of silence, then the birds stirring, knowing they will find the warmth of golden sunshine momentarily, then the soft light before the sun appears, and then the liquid golden orb, rising over the horizon, casting pink and orange across everything.
For this painting, I wanted to capture that feeling, and Nina Simone’s Feeling Good just started playing in my mind. If the sunrise could embody in human form, Nina Simone is the person it would choose. She is the sunrise, this unstoppable force of beauty and magic, this irrepressible glorious divinity. Eunice Waymon, seer of truth, indefatigably creating and shifting everything around her. Casting light on everything and everyone.
I want to keep painting this feeling. I want to honor this energy as best as I can, as the sunrise and the music of Nina Simone have held me when I was isolated and in need, have inspired me to keep moving and creating, have led me to truths I didn’t know I was seeking.
And so now, I’m going to put on a record and listen to her once more.
What does the sunrise do for you? Where do you find that feeling of true freedom, of grounding, of being exactly as you are in all your perfect imperfection?
Thank you for reading, and for looking. If you haven’t listened much to Nina, definitely take some time with her. And if you want a more modern vibe, check out The Miseducation of Eunice Waymon by Amerigo Gazaway, one of the soul mates projects, which are all absolutely phenomenal.