The Tree of Life A Real Estate painting commission 2024

- October 23, 2024

Project:

The Tree of Life 2024

A seven piece painting commission about family, flowers,birds and the love of life itself.

Tree of Life *TOL20240925
Mixed media / Canvas
170 X 170 centimeters (67X67 Inches)
2024

This series is about the representation of nature, a recurring theme throughout the history of art. The Tree of Life is a symbol found across various religions and cultures, including Christianity, Judaism, Celtic traditions, and Turkish mythology.

It has held many meanings, such as the union of life and death, the connection between heaven and earth, and the harmony between people and nature. It can also represent the primal energies of creation and the cycles of life.

The Tree of Life often features a tree trunk with branches that spread out and then return to the trunk. The trunk may symbolize the union between life and death, while the branches can represent the paths we take in life, all leading back to the trunk. Branches reaching upward may symbolize the connection between fundamental realms, while roots extending into the earth may represent the connection to life cycles.

The depiction of fruit can be interpreted as achievements in an individual's life, as well as intangible legacies for humanity, which in turn will generate new trees and nurture other species. Children and wisdom are often closely linked to this image of fruit. The Tree of Life can also be a symbol of personal and spiritual growth. Many people wear images of the Tree of Life on their skin or clothing as a representation of this.

In the Mesoamerican context, the world tree embodied the four cardinal points, which also serve to represent the quadruple nature of a central world tree, a symbolic axis that connects the planes of the underworld and the sky with that of the earthly realm.

Among the Maya, the central world tree was represented by a ceiba tree, known as Yaaxché, wacah chan, or yax imix. The ceiba, or Yaaxché, holds deep cosmological significance for the Maya. The upper branches and leaves of this tree represent the spiritual world, its roots represent the underworld or Xibalba, and its trunk, the terrestrial surface, represents the world in which we all live.

For the Mayas, the ceiba tree was and remains a sacred tree, which they consider "the Tree of Life." Its branches form the sky, the trunk represents the earthly plane, and its roots weave through the underworld, thus connecting the three cosmogonic levels.

According to the legend of the *Popol Vuh*, it is said that the creator gods planted their sacred ceibas in the four directions of the cosmos: to the east, the red ceiba; to the west, the black ceiba; to the south, the yellow ceiba; and to the north, the white ceiba. Finally, they planted a fifth ceiba at the center of these directions. In its roots, they placed the realm of the dead, at its base, the land inhabited by the living, and in its branches, the dwelling place of the gods. At the top of its canopy resided the origin of all gods in the form of a bird, the celestial Quetzal.