Pansies in a cream jug
acrylic on canvas
8 x 8 inches
Barbara Muir © 2009
Myself included. I've been painting in every available
interval today -- just painting and painting. I may be
fuzzy in a million other directions, but I felt that
delicious clarity about painting. I've been
working on my commission and a couple of other
smaller works.
Today I got out into the garden for a while. I thought
my friend, Laurel Daniel in Texas would take
that sea of blue Forget-me-nots and translate them
into an amazing painting. But I have to rip them out
before anything else can be planted. On the front
steps we have pansies, which were nearly dead from
frost when I bought them a couple of weeks ago. Now
with water and a bit of tender loving care, they are
gorgeous, especially the two purple blue pots, of
giant deep yellow pansies on the red chair beside the
door.
I brought some of the purple, white and mauve flowers
in for bouquets for our bedside tables
and began a small painting. It could be that that's
what warm weather gives us -- that clarity. Sitting on the back
porch eating dinner tonight we saw a sight we've
never seen in the city -- a humming bird attending
to every floret on my neighbour's pale mauve lilac
bush. Steven and Sam and I watched it for about
10 minutes. Maybe that's where the clarity comes from.
So my message to you is don't be afraid. Get out your
paints and start something. It doesn't have to perfect,
or great or even good -- it just has to be what you do.
If you want to, ignore your worries, your bad thoughts,
the people who don't understand you. Forget about
needing a special place, or the right time. Now is
the right time, and there will be another right time
in another hour, and little by little the work will
happen. And if you're still scared to begin, write
me, and I'll send you some courage. I know you
always encourage me.
Have an I-am-creating-and-loving-it day.
