Marionette & the Wishing Pot

"Marionette & the Wishing Pot" by Melanie Banayat
Original oil painting on canvas 36" x 36"
*Click on the picture to see larger image

I just finished this painting yesterday.

Who inspired this painting?

A few years ago I joined a woman's business networking group and met a soft spoken woman in her 50s (whom I will call Jane). Jane briefly shared her story of abuse with me after one of our meetings. I was on my way out to my truck when she called out my name. As we stood in the parking lot and I listened to her story, I was deeply touched by the pain that still brought tears to her eyes. She was no longer in her abusive relationship, by that point it had been a number of years since that relationship ended. With support from a transitional help center for abused women she was able to move on with her life, and is now a much happier, stronger person. But her need to share her experience wasn't about her being stuck in that painful place -- it was about reaching out to other women who need to know that they do not need to stay in abusive relationships. It was at that moment that I finally decided it was time to do a painting that addressed the issue of abuse.

It took me quite a while to come up with the idea of how I wanted to do this painting. Probably about a year went by before I even started sketching out my ideas. Maybe because I really didn't want to revisit that place in my own past.

As I was working on the painting in my art studio many thoughts came to me over and over about how many different situations there are where abuse occurs -- in marriages, in the work place, parental abuse, and the list goes on. Then on a larger scale, I thought about how a great number of people in our society feel abused by our country's leaders. Well, that's a whole topic in and of itself, so I'll just leave that one alone. Usually my first thoughts when I think of abuse I think of physical abuse, or sexual abuse, but mental, emotional, and financial abuse can be just as devastating on a persons life. Then there is also another side of abuse -- addiction; some people view drugs as their abuser. It's really all about control. The abuser's need to control the abused, and the abused needing to take back control over their own life. Recovery from abuse is not an easy road, but it's worth every effort it takes to get there. And it all starts with one decision.

The fact that I like to focus on the positive side of life's difficulties, and offer a sense of hope and inspiration in my work -- the topic of abuse posed as a real challenge for me.



Detail of wishing pot

Here's how the story in the painting plays out in my mind:

She felt trapped like a marionette with her life dictated by a puppet master. "Maybe if I try harder, maybe if I learn to do things better, maybe, maybe, maybe . . ." One day she shared her dreams with the puppet master who then turned and wrote them down for her on a piece of parchment and placed it in a wishing pot upon her request. The puppet master closed the wishing pot and adorned it with a pair of scissors as if to tease her, causing her desire for freedom to grow even stronger. Yet the scissors always seemed just outside of her grasp -- where her freedom continued to elude her. But one night she dreamt of a different life; the dream seemed so real. The next morning she decided she was going to do what it took to live that life -- a better life.


The message on the card will read:

Last night . . .

Marionette dreamt of dancing,
Laughing, learning, living.
At sunrise she did the one thing
She never thought she could.
She rose up and . . .

Note: I left the message unfinished so the reader can finish it off with her own story.


Detail of dancer










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Please share this post with others - Thanks! Melanie Banayat

Marionette & the Wishing Pot