Paintings: Joseph Daily
Series Concept: Joseph & Kathryn Daily
Commentary: Kathryn Daily
Photograph of Artist, Kathryn & Cat: Dan Eberly
Introduction: Carol Rubenstein

Who likes having their picture taken? Just as I thought…

Imagine then, being the subject of a twelve-month project... posing for "pictures," later rendered in the more permanent medium of oil paintings… Who relishes or would even agree to be regularly observed with the kind of scrutiny required of all great portraits... the kind that reveals something of the soul? I would hazard to guess, few.

I can only think that those unafraid... of the truth, of being seen for who he or she really is, of discovering aspects of oneself, pleasant or unpleasant, only a soul so unafraid would subject to the rigors of having a portrait painted; indeed, twelve of them!

Joseph Daily, painter, captured the tenor of a new life together, through his bride, Kathryn, as they journeyed through the personal and seasonal moods of the first calendar year. The artist's canvas becomes a window to the soul... of the painter, his subject, their marriage and the new world they would build.

Kathryn's movements mirror the rhythms of nature. Just as trees shed their life sustaining canopy of leaves, so too Kathryn sheds her pre-married life. We see her moving away from the viewer, from connection to others and the life she knew. The "Libra" figure wants instead to hear that small, still voice within.

In other paintings the subject seems unabashedly fixed outward, on a distant dream or horizon… and on her link with nature. One moment she's rendered withdrawn into "quiet," and the next she's "open" with new-found eagerness. Another canvas shows her centered and serene; one other reveals the kind of tentativeness only an approaching, entire universe of "unknowns" can produce…

In the painter's and subject's progression from one month to the next, we see the ebb and flow of a nurtured "inner" life put to work in an "outer" existence. Kathryn's expressions, body language, garments and pose in the landscape, underscore the cycles of nature and human nature. We watch as environment and subject go seemingly dormant: in reality both are gathering nourishment for rebirth.

Kathryn's changing character, revealed in this collection of twelve paintings, shows a spirit of "grace under fire," the kind of will that survives all seasons, the onslaught of major life change and the welding of two lives into one, all the while remaining whole, oneself.

Click one of the numbers to the left below to view a painting. To visit Joseph Daily's website, click here.

 

1. Libra, "FIRST STEPS" (16"x20")
After working on a portrait of me during our engagement, Joseph became inspired at the thought of a conscious collaboration between us. This was the first painting that we made together. I helped develop concepts for the paintings by exploring how the cycles of growth, death and regeneration related to us as newlyweds and as individuals.

Libra seems a fitting time of year to have begun this journey... it represents partnership, balance, beauty and justice. I'm walking down the driveway of our first home together. Those early days weren't easy for me, and it's reflected in my movement away from the viewer and my downward glance. Just as the earth at this time of year passes into ripeness and adulthood, I too found myself being compelled to mature. I think this painting reflects the hesitation and doubt I felt when beginning this journey and my response to an inner voice that said, "keep going."

(Click here to see the full painting)

2. Scorpio, "DESCENT" (16"x21")
The sun is in Scorpio through the middle trimester of Autumn. In the beginning of Scorpio, leaves are singing a high note of colorful chorus, and by the end the landscape has given itself over to a nearly-bare Winter.

The ancients once celebrated Samhain, or All Hallow's Eve, as was a time to seek guidance from the spirit world to further the journey of life. For Joseph and me, this was a time of deepening. The flurry of activity surrounding moving to our new home and marriage had passed and we were left alone with ourselves and our convictions in God's Laws. It was time for deep soul-searching; this painting marks the beginning of a new phase of our journey together. The sun descends, and I take the first steps down into the core of myself in order to discover what matters most. My dress and the trees are aflame with the Love and hope I feel the presence of, and which promises to see me through the coming night and into brightest dawn.

(Click here to see the full painting)

3. Sagittarius, "AN EARLY SNOW" (16"x21")
Sagittarius marks the time of year typically associated with festivity-from late November's Thanksgiving to the Winter Solstice on Dec. 21. Activity under this sign can feel outwardly charming and sociable, but underneath it is marked by forthrightness & truth-seeking. Its energy is youthful, dashing and idealistic.

And so it was that Joseph and I set forth with newly fostered convictions. But such idealism often receives a chilly response. The sudden and unusually early snow mirrors the cold atmosphere we found uponconfronting old ties and obligations that wewished to change. I'm quite vulnerable here, wrapped in a blanket... standing in a snow covered forest. Looking toward all I had to face, I was barely staving off fear, just as I'm barely staving off cold. I did however, manage to "speak my truth," and our relationships and life are better for it.

(Click here to see the full painting)

4. Capricorn, "CROSSING OVER" (16"x21")
The Sun moves into Capricorn on the shortest day of the year, the Winter Solstice. This sign is important to me on a personal level, as I seem often to be in the vicinity of someone born during this time (my father and brother included).

Meeting a new Capricornian often heralds a new life phase for me. One such friend once told me that elderly people frequently "cross over" from this life to the next during this time of year. My husband and I found ourselves feeling a similar kind of "passing on," not a physical death, but a departure from how things had always been. We realized we had reached a point in our growth from which it was impossible to return. We, too, had "crossed over." Here, I pick my way down the slope gingerly yet irrevocably, my body weight shifting over a crumbled stone barrier: the journey continues.

(Click here to see the full painting)

5. Aquarius, "BY THE SPRING" (16"x21")
"By the Spring" represents the middle of Winter. Although still bitter cold, the days begin to wax again. In ancient traditions, this time of year was a time of prediction, when people gathered at wells and celebrated the first tentative moves of the earth toward Spring.

Joseph and I, too, were beginning to shake off a hard cold Winter, but ours had been a winter of the soul. Now we began to talk in more hopeful terms. Our sentences often started with... "By the Spring..." I dipped my hand into this small pool of water that had bubbled up unexpectedly from the ground, and was spilling onto the driveway and out towards the world. The stillness of the beech forest in Winter and the seemingly inexplicable spring of water had a certain magical or fantastical quality that speaks to me of hopeful prediction.

(Click here to see the full painting)

6. Pisces, "SUNDOWN IN KENT" (16"x21")
I am a Pisces, so this painting has special meaning for me. The setting is Kent, England, and it is one of only two in the series set outside our own backyard.

Pisces marks the last trimester of Winter, when frozen ground gives way and new life breathes across the land. In some ancient traditions, Pisces marked the end of the year, and the last step in Nature's journey from birth to death. It is the point at which I usually wonder if Nature can get any deader-the tree is bare, the sun is setting, the ground is choppy and faded. I am on the edge, but in the fading light you can just see the beginnings of new life: greening grass and daring little snow drops. I may feel alone and cold, but I'm never without protection, never without the Love that feeds yet transcends the cycles of the Earth.

(Click here to see the full painting)

7. Aries, "EMERGENCE" (16"x21")
During the very sensitive time of year that is Aries, the earth renews herself. At some point previously in March, Winter seems to hang heavily over the land. And then the earth undergoes a most miraculous change, and with remarkable bravery and faith, new life stretches tenuously, toward the ever increasing light.

The painting shows me standing alone in a forest, barefoot, and clad in white. Winter winds still tug at the emerging and delicate life around me. But I stand with confidence. I have faith that the promises of Nature will be fulfilled. I turn away from the deadened tree and look to branches fresh with buds, toward new life and rejuvenation.

(Click here to see the full painting)

8. Taurus, "FINDING THE WAY TO SPRING" (16"x21")
When we imagine Spring, most of us picture the time of year when the Sun is in Taurus. By now, Spring, and new life, is established over the land, and Winter poses no threat to the delicate growth. Taurus has made the promises of Aires real, and has grounded them in material reality.

We felt at ease with each other; we smiled and laughed. This is the first painting that shows me with my hair down-it's a very slight change, but indicative of the openness and relief we were experiencing. Spring had come; Joseph and I had weathered the Winter. Each new leaf and blossom was a miracle of hope for which we were deeply grateful to God. My mother-in-law remarked that she "could almost hear the buds opening" in this painting. I hope that the viewer can almost hear our hearts opening as well.

9. Gemini, "IN THE FOREST RENEWED" (16"x21")
Gemini marks the transition from Spring into Summer. By this time, it seems that all of Nature's spring-time preparations are complete-the fragile leaves have unfolded, and the uproar of wildflowers has softened to a chorus in tune with all the burgeoning life.

What will the Summer bring? The question hung excitedly in the air as we stretched our renewed spirits. During Taurus we felt gratitude for every new leaf and flower... now, in the tumult of a strengthened life, that gratitude deepened and we asked again with all seriousness how we could best live harmoniously in Creation. The painting shows that moment of reflection, amidst the great swinging and joyousness of Nature.

(Click here to see the full painting)

10. Cancer, "HOMEWARD JOURNEY" (16"x21")
The sun moves into Cancer at the start of Summer, beginning with the longest day of the year, the Summer Solstice. It's a sign that can be associated with deep emotions, and with motherhood, home, and family.

My family celebrated the wedding of my older brother, which occassioned our traveling to my hometown-something we hadn't done since moving away nearly a year before. The pull of the old environment was startling to me, but I felt for the first time I could move freely through family and still remain true to my hopes and convictions. Even more encouraging was realizing I could uplift those around me. Home can be viewed in many different lights, but this painting expresses the desire to return to my spiritual home, to move ever upward on my path as a developing human being. I now felt I could carry that sense of home within me.

(Click here to see the full painting)

11. Leo, "LISTENING TO THE MEADOW" (16"x21")
As Summer settles into its"dog days," the suns moves into Leo. Ancients celebrated Lammas, the first harvest of grain, and gave offerings of the first loaves of the season. It's a time when we begin to reap what we have sown.

On the very first day of Leo, the day when this painting was conceived, I reached a turning point. We'd been visiting friends who were fast becoming very dear to us, when, after experiencing a morning worship with them, I prayed that I might find a way to best help Joseph on his path... I "heard" an answer, and thus began a heightened relationship with Nature."Listening to the Meadow" is just what I'm doing here, peacefully receiving the wisdom and comfort of the animistic forces that care for the Earth. This will be the only painting in the series we will keep with us and not sell... a reminder of the help and Grace we receive daily and hourly.

(Click here to see the full painting)

12. Virgo, "ON A CREST IN KENT" (16"x21")
When this painting was completed, my husband drew in the air across the canvas with his hand, the words "The End."

Virgo marks the final phase of Summer, and the end of this particular journey in painting. We had set out in Fall, lasted through Winter, emerged with Spring, and unfolded our new life together under the Summer sun. We were perched atop the past year's wonderful experiencing, filled with gratitude to God for our deepening understanding of Nature and art. We felt ready to leave behind the established form of one painting a month. Here I'm gazing out onto the idyllic landscape of Kent, England, and wonder about the new and varied possibilities that await us. Our hope with this project was to set the stage for a life of meaningful work. Now... we look forward look to what the future will bring!

(Click here to see the full painting)