{"product_id":"still-in-play","title":"Still In Play","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAcrylic on wood panel.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e27x40\"\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRecently, I met a woman in her early seventies who had a certain vibrancy about her. It was most apparent when she smiled. Her whole face lit up. For a moment, I could see her inner child shining through — that unguarded, joyful part of us that exists beneath all the layers of experience, expectation and responsibility we accumulate as we grow older.\r\u003cbr\u003e\r\u003cbr\u003eIt was infectious.\r\u003cbr\u003e\r\u003cbr\u003eAnd it got me thinking about how easily we forget to play.\r\u003cbr\u003e\r\u003cbr\u003eAs we age, life seems to get heavy. We are more aware of the state of the world, the passage of time and the things we can no longer control. There is no shortage of reasons to be serious, especially these days!\r\u003cbr\u003e\r\u003cbr\u003eWhen did play become something we had to earn? Something reserved for weekends, holidays or the rare moment when everything else was taken care of?\r\u003cbr\u003e\r\u003cbr\u003eMy painting \"Still In Play\", asks us are we still playing? \r\u003cbr\u003e\r\u003cbr\u003eMy ongoing pinball machine series explores life as a game, a metaphor that connects with the questions at the heart of my PARADOX series.\r\u003cbr\u003e\r\u003cbr\u003eIf life is a game, how much of it is actually within our control? We don't choose the circumstances into which we're born or every obstacle that comes flying our way. Sometimes the ball takes a ridiculous bounce. Sometimes we lose a turn. Sometimes the rules seem to change halfway through the game.\r\u003cbr\u003e\r\u003cbr\u003eBut perhaps we have more freedom than we think in deciding how we play.\r\u003cbr\u003e\r\u003cbr\u003eLet the magic in.\r\u003cbr\u003e\r\u003cbr\u003eMy art gives me a way to explore the contradictions, absurdities and uncomfortable questions of being human. The PARADOX series is, in many ways, my attempt to make sense of a world that often doesn't make sense at all.\r\u003cbr\u003e\r\u003cbr\u003eBut perhaps there is a paradox here, too.\r\u003cbr\u003e\r\u003cbr\u003eThat woman's smile reminded me that joy doesn't always arrive through some grand revelation. Sometimes it appears in the face of another person, unexpectedly, and for a moment we see beyond all the things that divide us or weigh us down.\r\u003cbr\u003e\r\u003cbr\u003eWe see a person simply being alive.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Michelle Neilson","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50517124186215,"sku":null,"price":2000.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0063\/3038\/4487\/files\/1_1792421391_43145.jpg?v=1792421399","url":"https:\/\/helloart.com\/products\/still-in-play","provider":"helloart","version":"1.0","type":"link"}