Thanks!

If I could pinpoint one dream that I have it would be that I didn't have to get up in the morning to go to work; it would be that I could get up, get my daughter ready for school, spend some time doing houshold chores and then go off to parts known and not so known to paint the sunrise or the sunset or the fish market with all its activities.

My reality is far from this. I do have to getup in the morning and go to work. I can't pick myself up and just go paint. I have to eke out time wherever and whenever Ican and feel as though i'm cheating my art with all other things
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If I have learnt one lesson in the years that I have walked this earth is to give thanks; for what you have as well as what you don't. I may not be able to go out and paint as I want but the times when I do are so precious that I treasure each moment and remember the story that God gives with each painting: The putting on of the high beam in the car to paint Homeward Bound, the racing up the road at 4.00 am to get the perfect sunrise for Stella Maris, the smell of the rain on the trees while painting After the Rain; each moment, each story is precious. And when I part with a piece it is not just my talents that I get to share, it's the story as well; mine and the one that God has given.

What if I was painting all the time? Am I sure I would still have this appreciation for the stories?
I don't know. What I do know is instead of sitting around and bemoaning what I can't do or can't have right now, I'm going to treasure those moments that come when the canvas becomes my eyes and the brush my hands and the spirit of God moves across the surface and I see Him in every tree and every blade of grass and every colour note and every story.

"In everything give thanks..." 1 Thessalonians 5:18

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