Many see a tarot card in this painting even though it wasn’t my intention. At the time of painting this I was beginning to be interested in an epic  Greek tale called Erotokritos written in the 17th century.

In it a princess is imprisoned for refusing to marry the king’s chosen suitor because she is in love with another man. I had also just read Entering the Castle by Caroline Myss, a book that used the castle as a metaphor for transformation and healing. Both texts inspired looking at the symbol of the castle, and seclusion in a spiritual way.

I personified a castle in this work to see what would come of the written material I was absorbed in at the time. Not surprising that his expression is anything but hostile. He offers his body for ways of escape. The hands are guides and safe platforms, a clever but gentle giant after all.  The strong lines on his palms perhaps a reference back to Tarot cards and fortune telling make it clearer that The Castle speaks of a soul’s journey.

My painting style is iconic though free of controlled lines characteristic of my modern icon from an earlier period (see the Gallery for examples). The year after painting this I staged a major solo show titled: Tales of Love and Reason where I used the Erotikritos story to re tell it in a different way. In Decemeber I aim to write about this in my Art Blog.