Surreal painting of a cloaked figure on a beach, golden sand pouring, with huge waves, a starry sky, a winged clock, and eyes.

A lone figure on a windswept shore, hands outstretched as golden sand slips between their fingers, just like in Poe’s haunting lines. Waves curl into the sky, becoming stars and blending cosmic and earthly elements to blur the line between reality and illusion. Floating dream fragments—a flying clock, eyes in clouds, a paper boat drifting midair—whimsical, almost childlike, yet with subtle melancholy. The figure’s face is drawn in a soft, exaggerated style, eyes wide with wonder and sorrow, wrapped in a robe with patterns of night and memory. Colors would be muted yet magical—lavenders, deep blues, silvery greys, with bursts of gold where the dream breaks through. The whole composition would feel like it's folding in on itself, like you're peering through a mirror inside a mirror—Poe's “dream within a dream” visualized. See more