Keep Out..the Watchers 🖤

"Keep Out"  © Morri

(acrylic on canvas)

This painting brought back a memory of a childhood Halloween. The place was real, and so was my fear. What follows is a memory, not an invented Halloween tale.

It was one of the few Halloweens I participated in as a child. We lived on an isolated country road at the top of a hill. Down the hill was a small lake, and they said a lady had drowned herself there!

It was growing dark, and we had to pass this lake to walk into the little community where the houses were. Beyond that, down the dirt road, was an old cemetery. Scary woodlands surrounded the road. As we passed the cemetery, the other kids with me started running. I had on men's boots (part of my costume), and not only could I not keep up...I ran out of the boots. I think they planned it. I laugh about it now, but it wasn't funny back then.

Even as a frightened child, I felt drawn to those woodlands...as if being beckoned to come in. In time, I "listened" to those whispers and embraced what is within the woodland shadows.

Decades later, waiting at our Drayton Island ferry landing, I felt that familiar pull. There stood the tree, the water beneath it, and the Keep Out sign. I knew I had to capture it. Still hearing those whispers. I allowed them to reveal themselves. Perhaps I had to paint it because that tree was eventually removed to make way for improvements. 😔

It lives on, hanging on my wall...captured on canvas. The woodlands remain here on the island. The trees stand dense and close, and within them, if you look, faces emerge from the bark and the shadows. The keepers of the woodlands. They were there before I arrived, and hopefully they will be here long after.

Leave the world behind for a moment. Listen amongst the trees. You may hear the whispers...you may even see the watchers...

Happy Halloween!

From a language known only to the heart,
~ Morri 🧡 🪬