Original Artwork:
To Be Collection
“To Find Beauty in the Mundane - Three piece painting"
(Triptych) by Artist, Jess Tinsley
Each, 36x48 oil on gallery canvas. 1 5/8" profile.
2020
 
Limited Edition Art Reproductions:
Each limited edition print is on high-quality paperl, and comes carefully packaged with a copy of the story behind the painting. Hand signed and numbered. 11"x14"
 
This triptych is about shifting your perspective to find joy in even the mundane parts of life. Let me break it down into three parts – one for each panel:
 
Part I: If you look closely, you’ll see bees in this first piece. Bees do their work, day-by-day without any regard for the beauty they leave behind them. Their goal is to survive and feed their families. Yet, as they go, flowers thrive and grow, honey is created. So much beauty come from their lives and they never see it. I put bees in this painting to remind myself that the things I do that feel unappreciated and worthless may have real value to others – even if I never see it. I want to be as faithful and productive as a bee – knowing that beauty comes from those qualities.
Mushrooms are included at the bottom of this piece because they grow from the death of other plants. They are humble and low to the ground, yet they use what is present to grow – and they help the environment by cleaning up what would otherwise be considered waste.
I also added a cactus to this painting because, as a child, we did not have a Christmas tree, but we had a six-foot cactus in our living room. Since I didn’t have a tree to decorate, I chose to decorate our cactus with ornaments and to celebrate the best way I knew how. I made this as a reminder to look for and find the ways to celebrate – to be persistent in finding joy – and it will find you.
 
Part II: Here, you see mountains, a hummingbird, and moths. They are there all the time, never thinking of their own beauty. Yet their existence brings joy and growth to the world around them. Moths are nocturnal, so we don’t often see them, but their beauty, when spotted, is deeply appreciated. We don’t need to change the ordinary and mundane things in our lives to make life better. Instead, we need to see through different eyes – the beauty in the mundane. We can wake up each morning to the mountains or the trees or the birdsong in our backyard and see all the glory and majesty in the ordinary. Likewise, we can shift our focus on the “chores” we all hate- whether it’s going to work each morning, sitting at a desk all day, or getting children ready every morning and staying home with the little ones. I’m not saying that the mundane is easy, it is incredibly hard and it takes a long time to learn how to find joy in it. I’m working to retrain myself to see all the beauty – to be grateful for each detail of my life.
Part III: I’m sorry to tell you, but to me, Magnolia flowers look like trash when they are in a distant tree. So when I put them in this painting, it was as a reminder to look a little closer at things before I toss them aside or dismiss them. They may seem ordinary or even look like trash, but you’ll sometimes find that there is incredible beauty in the details.
Pelicans are very common in Florida and other areas, but if you’re not from Florida and have never been to the beach, they are exotic and incredible birds who dive and hold fish in their beak pouches. To me, who never visited the beach as a child, they are a wonder.
 
You also see flatware in this panel. They represent the chore of washing dishes. Yet, if I shift my perspective, the chore of washing dishes can be a joy – time to enjoy the water on my hands, time to be grateful for the children who use the dishes and the food that was on them, time to look out the window and see the trees and the birds, time to reflect on what needs to be done, and I can even find joy in the order that comes with an empty sink and clean dishes. It’s a perspective shift – and that’s what this entire triptych is about.
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.