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By William Van Zyl
Published November 4, 2025
Dear reader, I share my artwork with you at the end.
“Not Defeated”
The crowd roars, a wall of sound that shakes the sunbaked arena. Sand burns beneath his hooves. The red fabric flickers. The bull thinks, “They think they control me.“
He charges. Muscles coil, heart pounding with defiance. And then—he slips. Dust explodes. The matador smirks. “I have got him!”.
But deep inside, something stirs in the bull, “I will rise.“
With a snort and a surge of will, he pushes off the sand. Every step is a statement, every breath a promise. The matador is flung, helpless against the force of his resolve.
The dust settles. Black hide glistening, he walks away. Not conquered and not broken. Rredeemed by courage, unbowed, unstoppable.
In this life, sometimes, we are like the bull:
Like the bull, we too stumble in the arena of life. We are knocked down by fear, loss, and failure, yet within us lies the same indomitable spirit that calls us to rise again. Our scars become symbols of survival, our struggles a testament to faith.
As Scripture encourages us:
“We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” — 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 (NIV)
Details of my Artwork:
“Knocked Down”—an acrylic portrayal of resilience—captures not just a bull’s fall, but the triumphant rise that mirrors every human heart determined to stand again.
My completed artwork is below. TITLE: “Knocked Down.”
HERE IS A DESCRIPTION OF THE ARTWORK:
Title: Knocked Down
MEDIA: Charcoal powder, charcoal sticks, acrylic paint, clear Gesso, and finished with cold wax, on plywood (board).
Size: 90 cm x 60 cm (20 mm – plywood thickness)
Artist: William Van Zyl. Completed in November 2025.
Copyright © 2025 by William Van Zyl
Knocked Down.
All rights reserved. This eBook/article or any portion
thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner
without the publisher’s permission, except for using brief quotations in a book review.
Published by Five House Publishing (New Zealand)
First Publishing, November 2025
More eBooks and articles are available at https://fivehousepublishing.com/More about the author at http://williamvanzyl.com/
