The Heart of the Matter

I am grateful for the technology that allows us to connect with kindred souls and spirits.  This blog is all about healing our hearts.  Two beautiful women: Flora Bowley (www.florasbowley.com) and Tracy Verdugo (http://artoftracyverdugo.blogspot.com) have posted pics of their artwork on their sites that have stirred my deepest innermost desires to "sling" paint! The pic shows Flora at one of her workshops. 

As I looked at photos of artists with paint on their hands, I remembered a scene from one of my favorite movies, "Benny and Joon."  If you've seen the movie, you already know the scene I'm thinking of, and if you haven't, you need to!  Up close and personal shots show Joon expressing her memories of the loss of her parents, her abandonment, by moving the paint around on the canvas with her hands, massaging her aching heart on canvas.  It's like someone is doing heart surgery, prodding and probing my sensitive spots... and as I looked at the photos, I remembered. 

The Beginning.  I had bought an oil-painting kit at a bookstore in a mall. I carried that kit with me as I moved from location to location, from one part of the country to another, in search of my bliss, but I never opened the tubes.  Art was something others created.  When I finally was abled to face my fears and open the tubes, the paint had dried the caps on and I had to use pliers!  The company where I worked relocated to the other coast (the one I had just left) and I took advantage of that moment in time to go down a different path.  A chance encounter with a professional housepainter at a paint store (I was going to paint a metal bedframe that belonged to my grandmother) afforded me a chance to apprentice as  a painter.  He taught me how to paint walls.  I learned sponge painting and faux marble when the craze was peaking.  I had a few clients (I can make up flyers and market myself well)...  but where I am going with this... my painting encounter with my own bathroom... 1/4 bath really.  I poured puddles of paint on a plastic drop cloth: beautiful hues of greys, blues, deep lavenders, and dipped my roller in...  I had a blast rolling that little bathroom with all those gorgeous colors!  Then, the coup de grace was when I sponged on top of that with oranges, yellows and reds.  I topped it off by hanging a poster of a Monet, waterlilies or something.  I was so thrilled with my creation.  Unfortunately, my significant other of the time wasn't... shoulda been a red flag.  I allowed myself to be derailed instead of following my bliss!

So, here I am, getting another chance.  Stay tuned for pics of my hands in paint!  Please feel free to leave comments about your own journey to paint!