Today is important, we will know what kind of country we really are.
Hillary Clinton is nowhere in sight to justify a return to a meaner and certainly less just America. I`m not even nervous this time. Reality never quite reassembles after being shattered. I know now much better what my responsibilities are and what I can do, either way.
I also turned 65 around 2:30 am last night. So many of my birthdays have been steeped in idealism and hope and also in crushing disappointment. Depending on the election. I feel prepared as best as I can be.
This morning I was reminded that gratitude is where happiness can be found. I know this but it takes a willful concentration. Not like a child`s fast prayer at bedtime. If I unravel the threads and look closely, I can see my inherent advantage and also mountains of pain and trouble that never darkened my way. And the good stuff benefits by counting. If I can stay with it, the word becomes the feeling which becomes the realization of extraordinary grace. The bus missed me, my parents loved me, I`ve never been hungry, I lived when my peers died of AIDS, I can paint! ....Lucky from the get go!
This is what has darkened my way! This is a section of the Tualatin River that I`ve painted many times, on site and in my studio. On an afternoon visit in late summer, the water was almost inky, the shadows of the cliff deep and yet the luxurious grasses and bushes on the far shore were ablaze;
Yet I can`t seem to get anything convincing. Beware the painting that is inspired and promising in the beginning! I was, maybe still am, intent on getting this right but I`m not sure of what to do next. If I use my hard earned maturity, I`ll set it aside and do something else. I`ll ignore its calls for rescue.
Thank you to those who visited my open studio last month! My work was competing with spectacular, dazzling sunlight yet you ventured down into my basement. I appreciate it.
Though I think he could eviscerate him with a swipe, Lyndon continues to mentor our new family member with patience.
This was painted exactly two years ago. Another stretch of the Tualatin River, purchased by an artist who lives very close to that spot. That was a nice validation.
Abstraction from Nature workshop
Feb. 2 and 3
Seattle Artists League
work for sale in my studio
3 comments:
Happy birthday to you! Fingers crossed for all of us that voting day yielded some good results.
It pays, literally, to count your blessings. It takes effort though and it's almost easier to just complain. And it's hard to search for the good things when you are knee deep in whatever is troubling you. They are there though. I've never had the exercise not pay off.
You have got to have the cutest boy cats ever! Your Carter looks like my Toby (may his memory be a blessing). Cats are such wonderful companions aren't they?
As I said, happy birthday to you. I am glad that you are here!
Thanks,
Libby
David; l resonate with your feelings, re: election, hope, gratitude. Love your art, and felines!! If/when I get back out to your lovely state, I will look for your studio. Peace.
Happy Belated Birthday to you!! Here’s to many more years of painting. Love the shared paintings and photos today. I’m glad you can experience hope, Randall, but it’s just a few days out now and I find myself sinking down again with the latest crap from the twitter-in-chief :(. I need to stop watching news but then I feel like I might miss something actually good for the country happening. Oh, well, spending more time in my art room helps and playing music you can dance to helps :).
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