By Samantha Wortelhock
Original Painting Size and Limited Edition Giclee size: 900 x 1600

BreakAway!

I woke within my dream one night

'My God! I'm flying. This feels good

And look down there! The seagulls are baking'

And a voice replied, 'Why not?'

'Don't you see that this is real?

You feel the wind whistle round your limbs...

Who is to say that what you are doing isn't as valid as when you wake up in your bed as the alarm rudely screams,

'Get up, get up! Right now!'

'I give you these dreams to remind you

That life as you know it is one thing

But that table that feels so solid to touch

Is made up of particles which move fast as lightning.

So question reality, let your thoughts wonder

Play with ideas and you'll see

A world open up

A window within...

A new sense born to fly free'!

The Story Behind The Painting
BreakAway! has had an iconoclastic journey from it’s inception. Together with The First Hurdle, the print sales have been outstanding. Currently there are fewer than 30 limited edition paper prints left and most of the Giclee edition is sold out. The image has a cheerful but surreal nature and has been purchased by many a businessman who wants colleagues to see beyond their suit and tie. In Sam’s words:

My second ever painting appeared to me in a dream and BreakAway has become my signature work and most successful image in terms of it's popularity. In the dream I was being told that reality is not necessarily as it appears. We, as humans, have limited senses perceived through our physical bodies. With humour, (which I believe to be not only the international language of the heart but also the source of my work's chosen medium) the dream showed me a new landscape where birds traded place with humans and we experienced the transcendent and objective qualities of flight while the birds got to bask in the lazy warmth of the sun. In a way, my dream maker was suggesting that we put our feet in the shoes of others, not just humans, to gain an objective empathy and education. The back drop for BreakAway is our home town of Byron Bay...Australia's most Easterly point and home of the best beaches I have ever seen, both from above and below!