Strength.
It comes from a place deep within.
And everyone I have ever met who I deem as strong has had laughter as their main weapon. A positive outlook. A belief the next day will get better. It defeats illness and loss, grief and despair.
Endurance is needed to heal the other elements.
“Broken Vessel #11 / Endurance” pastel, 36 x 24″
I deliberately surrounded her in orange because in heraldry orange has traditionally been a symbol of courage. For some, just getting up and getting through the day and fighting dragons of illness, depression or despair is a courageous act. My model is my widowed neighbor who has become a good friend. I could not even conceive of painting her without a smile.
And here she is waiting for the saw. It is hard to see in the final image, but I deliberately left holes in the cracks and didn’t fully repair them so one can see right through to the board underneath. Again, I am starting to deviate a bit from a traditional kintsugi treatment and leave some of the repair unfinished. This is wrapped in glassine and framers tape leaving the channels for the saw blade cuts.
Next week is the last image from the series and a self portrait…..
Love the color orange! Beautifully symbolic.
Thanks!
I really like seeing your evolution of choices in this series.
😀
Thank you. I enjoy and look forward to your stories. Hope you are doing well.
Thank you for your letters. I always look forward to them.
Thanks! Im doing great! Love my new hime in Greenville SC. My son just made the basketball team and we are doing well. Hug!
Such an eloquent series. Your mention of the importance of laughter really resonated with me. Made me think of when I was diagnosed with cancer for the first time (it’s returned twice — I’m ok now) and I lost my hair to chemo, my husband and I dubbed me Garibaldi (aka “the old Italian nationalist”). 😂 Humor is such a great survival tool.
thanks for sharing. Glad you are ok now. Yes, you must have a lot of endurance….
Beautiful ! Thank you for sharing!