Luxury and Gloss.
Limewashing the kitchen walls, polishing a car, painting a fence in exchange for a dead rat, or applying oil paint to a canvas—what a pleasure! Painting is a consistent activity that creates an object pleasing to the eyes through a delightful process.
Art is a luxury, both for the artist and the audience. A piece of art is a luxury item, just like a diamond.
Being stubborn is a family trait. I’ve heard all the childhood anecdotes about my father’s legendary obstinance. To avoid making a scene, I have instead turned the energy rays of my stubbornness inward. The word “diamond” comes from the Greek word “adamas,” meaning invincible or unyielding. To be adamant means to be impossible to persuade or unwilling to change an opinion or decision.
Diamonds are the hardest substances in nature; nothing can scratch a diamond except another diamond. This quality derives from the crystal structure of this precious stone, which is otherwise made purely of carbon, just like soft graphite. Invincible but not indestructible, a diamond can be split, smashed to atoms, or even burned.
A treasure that reflects and refracts light in the most beautiful ways yet possessing them comes with a price. Sinbad the sailor escaped from the diamond valley, swarming with poisonous snakes, by clinging to a bloody piece of lamb in the clutch of an eagle, his pockets brimming with the world’s largest and most brilliant diamonds. Diamond mines are hell on Earth; bloody diamonds fuel wars, cursed diamonds sink ships and bring ill fortune to their owners.
As a child, I often had a recurring nightmare in which I saw a multitude of serpents crawling all over the floor. So it’s better not to own diamonds—the keepers of the brilliance of light. I’d rather observe them as models. Forever stubborn, I will always choose the luxury of painting.
Lola Kovács