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3/22/11

"Spring Chickens on a Cloudy Day"

I like to play with color and there are times when I'll do just that-- play with no real concept in mind.  That's how this painting started.  Several days ago, before the run of rain we've been having, I did a wash of delicate spring hues using a couple of new paints I had picked up.  I let the colors run and mingle and make their own decisions.  I set the paper aside for a while until I "saw" what the white spaces would become:  happy white hens among cheerful glowing flowers.  Then I began painting after three days of non-stop rain.  Even though I was thinking flowers, my sub-conscience led me to a house with a substantial porch.  I wonder if my hens are considering seeking shelter?  The fresh colors of potential flowers softened into blue-toned grays.  Of course the undertones are still there and that's what keeps those grays from being drab.


Sounds like a life lesson to me... If my foundational thinking is optimistic and thankful, it will influence all my circumstances.  I'd like to be able to say "Yeah, that's me!" but actually I was reminded of this principle by my neighbor.  He's a youngish man who has been in a wheelchair for about ten years following a car accident.  Every time I get a chance to talk to him, he announces that his happiness is so deep and rich and real that it scares him.  He can't imagine getting any happier but every day is better than the one before.  He sits in the sun, in his wheelchair, reading his Bible-- a habit he began three years into his journey as paraplegic.  God is his source of joy, his underpainting.  I have never seen such a powerful, long-lasting testimony.  He's been spreading his praises for years, praises that began after the circumstances of life left him with apparently little to be joyful about.  What power the presence of God has to change lives!

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