Overjoyed that she had chosen the photograph I secretly wanted her to choose, I never questioned her choice afterwards. I simply painted with all my heart, trying to do justice, as best I could, to this magnificent landscape. It was only on the day of the unveiling that she explained the reason for her choice.

 

In her eyes, the large central tree, which splits in two, represents her and her husband. All around, we can see four younger trees, symbolizing their four children. And in the foreground, the orange color highlighted reminds her of her mother, who sadly passed away several years ago, orange being her favorite color.

 

This forest then became tangible, full of meaning, full of life. I now see this large, sturdy tree as the pillar of this forest, a tree that the younger ones can rely on. A tree that shares its resources with its own, that accompanies them through the seasons, that watches over them during storms. It is said that the mother tree protects her young by providing them with shade, so that they do not receive too much light in their early years, which would cause them to grow too quickly. Over the years, these four trees will have access to more and more light and will shine in turn under the sun's rays. And who knows... maybe one day they will see new shoots growing around them.

 

And in the foreground, the autumn leaves, highlighted by the light. These leaves that we love so much, that we would like to keep forever, but that we must nevertheless accept to let go, because that is the cycle of life.

 

Without knowing it, I didn't just paint a forest. I painted a story. I painted a family portrait.