Casting for Stars

‘Casting for Stars’   

A new original in the Star Catcher theme.

 
Casting for Stars –
Print of Original Gullah Acrylic Painting by Samantha CLAAR
16″ x 20″

I did a recent commission of another Star Catcher and realized that there is a strong desire for stars in our lives.  They represent hopes, dreams and aspirations that we yearn for to circumvent the chaos around us.  When I place the Gullah-Geechee right in the middle of this, I am expressing all of those representations on multiple levels.  Few of us have endured or experienced culturally the prevailing denigration of being Black in an America that worked you to the bone and stole your life, your children, your heritage and did its very best to make you believe you really were not as good, smart or capable as your captors, your owners or anyone White or lighter. 

The net represents the literal ingenuity of the West African forbears of the Gullah-Geechee who continued to throw the cast nets for food, for feeding the masses, for earning their freedom and most importantly, for catching stars.

Even though a net can “catch you up” it also opens to allow for freedom of thought and action.  It is woven to catch food, but the spaces allow for hoping and dreaming, for seeing the universe and claiming your own star. A cast net is sturdy, functional, a woven history.  A cast net is thrown to catch the multitude of things you cannot pick up with just hands and will. It means you are open to life …. and life is open to you.  

When you look at this painting, I want you to see the vastness of life and the desire to always be interested in stars and their infinite possibilities no matter what life is like in this moment.  I want you to think of the Gullah-Geechee people and their unending sorrow about the past and their unending joy in being alive and still moving forward toward the dreams of their many generations here.  For me, they represent the most amazing “Star Catchers” of us all.

I am always interested in how my paintings ‘speak’ to you.  Post your thoughts on the website to share with us all, or email me directly at: Claar@FineFolkGalleries.com      

Thank you

Samantha Claar