In "The Little Prince" by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, my favorite part is Chapter 21. It is at once poignant, heart-warming, sad, and, above all, enlightening. Every time I read what the fox said to the Little Prince, "But if you tame me, it will be as if the sun came to shine on my life. I shall know the sound of a step that will be different from all the others. Other steps send me hurrying back underneath the ground. Yours will call me, like music, out of my burrow. And then look: you see the grain-fields down yonder? I do not eat bread. Wheat is of no use to me. The wheat fields have nothing to say to me. And that is sad. But you have hair that is the color of gold. Think how wonderful that will be when you have tamed me! The grain, which is also golden, will bring me back the thought of you. And I shall love to listen to the wind in the wheat...", I still feel my heart being rent by the sheer beauty of it, and yet, at the same time, the truth it reveals is a salve to past wounds: There are so many beautiful things that we can find in our relationships - with our family, our friends, our love - what sense is there in dwelling on pain and loss?I painted this picture as a scene after the Little Prince had left the fox. I personally did not intend to have it contain any trace of melancholy at all - yes, the little fox may seem rather lonely in that picture; but as he said, he finds comfort - and beauty - in seeing the golden waves of the wheat field and in hearing the rustling wind among the wheat stalks... and he is happy.
I have not painted often in watercolor, being a lazy person (pencil sketches and cartoons in ink are more abundant); among the few watercolor paintings I've done, this ranks among my favorite. It is simple, unpretentious, even a bit childish, and I did it on a rather small piece of paper (not even the size of A5, I think), but somehow, it resonates deeply with my soul.
Perhaps it is because I, too, love to sit and watch the wheat field turn golden...
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