To Be Collection
 
Original Artwork:
“To Cling to Hope”
by Artist, Jess Tinsley
36x36 oil on gallery canvas. 1 5/8" profile.
2020
 
Limited Edition Art Reproduction:
Each limited edition print is on high-quality paper, and comes carefully packaged with a copy of the story behind the painting. Hand signed and numbered. 12"x12"
 
As I’ve experienced dark times in my life, I have struggled to hold on to hope. It has taken everything in me at times – but some of the things that have helped me are therapy, prayer, holding tight to the things and people I believe in, medication, and reading the Psalms in the Bible for comfort and encouragement. In this painting, you’ll see doves, which symbolize both my desire for peace, and my desire to fly away when things feel too hard. You will also find hands holding desperately onto a rope as a person would when they feel they are drowning. You will see a dancer who continues to do the hard work to create beauty and joy – to work and deal with pain each and every day – to become someone who brings joy to herself and to those who see her dance. Flowers always signify growth and the beauty that comes from discomfort and transformation. “To Cling to Hope” is truly my journey to hold on to what I know is true and my choice to believe the good over the bad. I hope it encourages you to do the same.
 
My work is about the tensions in life – about the difficulties and struggles we face – and how we respond to them. My hope is that when you are faced with your own struggle, my work will encourage you to have hope and joy. The figures in the pieces may feel sad, but they also dance. They may have limitations in their surroundings, still they push through. The plants and flowers are symbolic of growth and persistence. The change that plants experience – from seed to bud to beautiful bloom – is an example of how change can make us beautiful – if we allow it. To me, the most important things in life are the people around us and the decisions we make in response to what life throws at us.
 
You may see in my paintings the hardness of life – the grief, sadness, anger, and hurt – while also offering the idea that there is hope for healing and growth through the struggle. It is intended to inspire you to live at peace with the complexity of a world full of storms and sunshine - while we mourn the deep loss we each experience, we still seek reasons for hope and joy.