I dwell in Possibility 
by Dawn Rodger 
Original Artwork 
 
An intriguing oil painting of a figure and her Barn owl amidst the swirling tendrils and leaves hinting at the coming Autumn. The picture is titled ‘I dwell in Possibility’ after the poem of the same name by Emily Dickinson.
 
I dwell in Possibility -
A fairer House than Prose -
More numerous of Windows -
Superior - for Doors -
 
Of Chambers as the Cedars -
Impregnable of eye -
And for an everlasting Roof
The Gambrels of the Sky -
 
Of Visitors - the fairest -
For Occupation - This -
The spreading wide my narrow Hands
To gather Paradise -
 
Dickinson was referring to the freedom that she found in writing poetry as opposed to prose. Poems can be less linear and so aren’t necessarily bound by the laws of reason and punctuation. I feel that this applies to painting too. The meanings and symbolism in painting are often not tethered to words and language but formed in the colours and textures of the paint. The interpretation is down to the viewer.