Day 22 of Lent - A Tired and Cranky Post

I have spent all day working on this large 24x36” painting:

this process photo was shot at about 2/3 of the way into the painting…a bit more to be done.

To me, this speaks of these children’s confidence in their mother’s love for them. She looks a bit disheveled, she looks even tired - with two little ones climbing all over her for a story. The airy brush strokes and the splashes in that atmospheric back ground speak volumes. Motherhood is messy. There are tears, baths, and hearts held as gently as possible. All of it, building confidence into those two little ones.

But that kind of confidence can help grow loving, hopeful humans. Children who live with assurance and imagination are able to calm their insides enough to notice beauty.

Fear makes us supremely self centered. Scarcity makes cowards of us all. But these little ones are hopeful and whimsical - and a whimsical hope lets us notice others, care for them, and hold space in our imagination to conceive of a creative way we can act for their benefit.

All lovely thoughts, these.

But at the moment, I am exhausted and cranky. My hands are fumbling all over the keyboard, fingers splotched with gesso and soft pastel. Wave after wave of hot flashes are rolling over me, and I’m going on about 5 hours of sleep last night.

So stick a fork in me, I’m done. All the lovely thoughts that began this painting have leaked out of me.

And it is time to say goodnight.

(much, much earlier in the day….)