universal pain

If you reveal your secrets to the wind,

you should not blame the wind

for revealing them to the trees.

KHALIL GIBRAN

I painted this last night.

i had just finished watching a documentary about a family in Latvia

who had a history of incest 

and this one woman who was trying to free herself

from such heavy chains on her heart.

My heart went out to her and her two children...

born of her own brother.

Family secrets.

I just thought about how the pain must be the same

for anyone who is abused -

whether you are in Russia or the US

or France or China or Canada.

The feeling must be the same.

Just as love is universal, so must be pain.

My current books on the go.

Someone asked me the other day

what i was reading.

I was never one to read just one book at a time.

I usually have several books on the go,

and the book i pick up depends on my mood at the time.

Some books are heavy on the head, some are lighter.

If a book is really good, I'll read it faster than the others.

Some books i prefer reading in the morning,

and some easier reads are kept for the evenings.

I sometimes feel like i'm trying to learn

as much stuff as i can while i'm here...

i know, it's ridiculous, right?

but it's who i am.

And truth be told, i wouldn't be who i am today

if it were not for all the books i've read.

Books not only have the ability

to teach us about the world,

but they also teach us about ourselves.

what we like and don't like.

what makes us tick.

what we love and what we learn to tolerate.

what we are willing to stand for.

the reasons we believe what we believe.

What frustrates the hell out of us.

(right now, for me, it's all the hype about the damn smoke

coming out of the Sistine chapel chimney!)

I for one, do not care who they elect pope.

There. I said it.

I'm still convinced that if most catholics knew

about the history of catholic religion,

they would be fewer in numbers.

Maybe when they begin to respect women,

and children

and gays

and scientists

and atheists...

i'll change my mind.

Who knows.

Miracles can happen. 

;-)

pink flowers & freedom's children

Sometimes, when i sit myself down to paint, i have no idea what i feel like painting.

Sometimes i work from a photo, sometimes not.

Sometimes certain colours call out to me

and others don't.

Since i'm not a hopeless romantic, and not particularly fond of pink flowers,

this little baby came out of nowhere...

Flowers?

Love?

REALLY? Pink flowers on turquoise?!?

(insert rolling eyes here)

After the pink flowers, the night was still young,

and as I glanced at one of the books on my shelf

I knew exactly what i wanted to paint.

I've always loved this book cover.

From a book called "Freedom's children", by Velma Maia Thomas.

There's something so gentle 

and hopeful

and kind

about these two women,

reading together.

I think an image like this one needs little detail.

This is done on a cream 5" x 7" cardboard, normally used for mats.

I may put this in my ETSY shop. We'll see.

I wondered, if i hadn't continued painting my pink flowers,

if i had questioned the pink

and the turquoise,

and trashed it before it was done,

would i have felt inspired to paint this?

Maybe sometimes,

we need to get certain things out of our systems

to make room for new inspiration.

The key is to avoid judgement,

be patient

and trust the process.

Wishing you all new inspiration this week

and a peaceful process. :-)

xoxo