The Merit of All Things | 2024

This painting is titled after the quote from the Three Musketeers: “The merit of all things lies in their difficulty.” (Or, as we say in Hebrew, “הזורעים בדמעה ברינה יקצורו”.) Our reality since October 7 reflects this more than ever, where so often even the good has a touch of bad to it, and vice versa. The formula of this world clearly seems to be that the more effort one makes towards something, the greater the reward. The theme of foraging in nature seemed very symbolic of this lesson to me.