The Fool Head – NFS
"The Fool Head"
2022
Soft Pastel on Sennelier pastel board
Framed, 13" x 16"
NFS/Personal Collection
Accepted for the juried group show titled “Wonderment” at the Los Alamos Art Council’s Fuller Lodge Art Center in Los Alamos, NM.
Feb 10-March 21, 2023
This painting is a love letter to my heart and was inspired by two things, first this quote from 1600's French writer Francois de La Rochefoucauld:
"The heart is forever making the head its fool."
And secondly from my love and appreciate for my own heart.
In June of 2021 I had an SVT (supraventricular tachycardia) episode where my heart raced at 189 bpm for 9 hours. It had to be restarted via drugs and over the past months I have learned a lot about this condition, my own heart, and the role our hearts play in our emotional health.
Broadly speaking, our society values the attributes associated with our heads--logic, decisiveness, and thought. We often forget to listen to or value the attributes associated with our hearts--emotions, connections to others, and vulnerability.
We tend to live in our heads, I certainly do, but our heart and body are equally important and if we don't pay attention to them they will eventually SHOUT at us in a myriad of ways. Mine manifested with an episode of SVT. I'm grateful I listened and am making different choices every day to honor my heart and get out of my head.