Despair

The story behind Despair

One beautiful Autumn day, I realized that my girlfriend, who had moved out a few days earlier, had left for good. What had been a warm and loving relationship had gone so badly wrong – the woman now had a great deal of hate in her heart for me.

So I set out for a walk in the rural surrounds of my home town in Yarra Glen, hoping to get some perspective on the recent events which led to the end of the relationship. The further I walked, the more the weather turned for the worse, the wind picked up speed, the clouds gathered, and got darker. Soon the wind was howling, and I could see the most intense dark storm coming.

I was quite some distance from home when all hell broke loose. The rain came down at an angle, and with a ferocity I had never seen before, along with massive strikes of lightning. The wind was so strong I could barely stand upright. I soon became distraught, frightened, and broke down and lay on the ground crying. I wept uncontrollably at my loss. Surely this storm was punishment for my treating my girlfriend poorly.

An indeterminate time passed, and I found myself lying in a flooded ditch by the side of the road. I picked myself up and returned home. I set out to create an abstract expressionist artwork that would convey the despair I felt in the midst of the storm.

Bert Ernie

Detail views of abstract painting Despair