Dream of: 04 October 1995 "Art Show"

I was standing outside a tent such as might be erected at an arts and crafts show where artists displayed their works. Various paintings were hanging and sitting inside the tent, and I was aware I knew the man who had painted these paintings. I recognized him immediately when he stepped outside the tent and pulled me inside. He was tall, had black hair, and was probably in his late 30s. He seemed like a strong, forceful man, and I had the feeling he was extremely powerful and important.

Although I had watched the painter paint before, I had never actually seen any of his paintings until now. He quickly insisted I look at a set of four paintings which he had recently completed. As I looked at the paintings, several thoughts surfaced in my mind. All the paintings were of one woman. The thin, black-haired woman had black hair and was probably in her late 30s. I immediately recognized her as a woman with whom I had had a long and intimate relationship.

What, however, was clear from the paintings, was that the artist was telling me he had also had an intimate relationship with the woman. It appeared he and I were both in love with the same woman, although I hadn't been aware of his love until I saw the paintings. All the paintings were meant to symbolize the sexual involvement of the man with the woman, and the progression of the involvement.

The first painting was meant to show the innocence of the first sexual encounter and was rather nondescript.

The second painting showed the woman lying on her back. A small boy was seen sitting on her lower stomach. I quickly interpreted the small boy as representing both birth and erection. The painting represented a deepening of the sexual relationship between the man and the woman.

The third painting actually contained several different scenes grouped together. The one which most caught my attention was in the upper right corner. It showed four identical heads of the woman, all pointing at different directions at right angles to each other and meeting at the neck, so one head was on top, one to the right side, one to the bottom and one to the left side. This was probably the most fascinating, albeit unusual, picture of everything I saw. I realized this was a symbol of full blown sexual involvement.

The fourth painting showed the woman lying on her back in a stream so her lower body was in the stream and her upper body was out. She was wearing her clothes and seemed asleep. This painting seemed to symbolize that the sexual relationship was still in full force, although it was possibly beginning to wane.

I had never seen such symbolic paintings, or paintings whose symbolism was so clear to me. On the surface, the paintings were completely innocent; but their hidden meaning seemed clear to me. Obviously the painter was trying to send me a message. He hadn't said anything of his love of the woman, and the only message was sent through the paintings. Clearly he didn't want me to have anything else to do with the woman, and this was his way of telling me. I was unsure what I would do, I was still so astounded. I knew the painter was a powerful man and could be dangerous. But still I didn't think he would hurt me.