Well I finished another one today. Actually, I should mention that I’ve been working on this one for quite awhile. I started weeks ago and didn’t like how it was coming out at all so I totally redid the background today and now I love it. The forest seemed like the perfect setting for this young man.

I’ve been doing a lot of paintings lately of people who are searching for something. I’ve also noticed that I always seem to do a solitary figure in my paintings. I wonder what it is about that theme that fascinates me. A friend once suggested to me that an artist puts something of herself into every painting she does. Maybe that’s what I’m doing. Anyway, here is my painting. I’m going to call it Vision Quest.

I LOVE hiking. It’s finally warm enough and the snow has melted enough that I can go again!  I went on a great one today. I got up, showered, ate breakfast and just took off. That, I think, is the best part about being a full time artist. I make my own schedule. Now I’ll spend the rest of the evening finishing my painting and hopefully starting a new one.

It was amazing to see all the new growth on the trees. They’re turning green now! Just 2 weeks ago I went up the same trail and everything was brown. The ground was all muddy and sloshy and eventually I hit snow and decided to turn back. Snow is no fun to hike in without snow shoes. But today everything was green and the ground was dry and I had a great time. I am so grateful for springtime. For that matter, I’m grateful for all of the seasons because without winter I don’t think I would fully appreciate the springtime.

Sometimes the mountains sing my name.

Sometimes I look up at the rolling horizons that push their jagged snow covered peaks towards the endless skies of fathomless blue and I can hear the mountains singing my name.

Sometimes the wind sings my name.

Sometimes I stand on grassy hills and breath the restless wind into my restless lungs and I feel that we are the same. It stirs my hair and pulls at my clothes and I hear the wind singing my name.

Sometimes the sun sings my name.

Sometimes I follow the mighty burning sun and let it’s heat make me loose, strong, and clean. I feel it’s fingers of warmth on my shoulders, on my head and I hear the sun singing my name.

The song of life is in the mountains, in the wind, and in the sun. It sings with every glance, every breath, every step taken. It sings my name into nature and makes a home for me.

It sings your name.

Can you hear it?

I like this one a lot better than the last one. I agree with Shane’s comment in my last post when he talked about the forground plant having something to say. It looks to me like he’s reaching out to sort of get a feel for the world but he’s a quiet type so he doesn’t want to bother anyone. He’s not pretending to be anything he’s not but he’s still not sure where he’s going or what he has to say to the world. He’s just glad to be alive.

I just got back from running. I had a wonderful time. It was the best run I’ve had in quite awhile. I decided to not think about how fast I was going or how far I would get. I just let myself fall into a rythm that felt good. I let my muscles do what they wanted to do and I let my mind go where it wanted to go. I found myself gazing up at the beautiful mountains. I breathed in the cool air that wafted down over their slopes and felt it move through my hair. I watched the clouds move across the sky and it felt as though my legs were doing exactly what they were built to do. It was as though they had a mind of their own and they knew exactly what to do without any help from me. It was awesome.

Fingers of light spread over the eastern horizon and I am running. Air fills my lungs as I pull the earth beneath my pounding feet. The mountain before me gazes down through eyes that have witnessed the ages and I feel it’s earthy surface move with the rithm of my stride. I am home. I am running with my brother the wind. I breath his life into my own and I am made strong. The fingers of eastern light follow me. I glance back and know that they will win. They always do. The sparkling rays glide over the grassy slope warming the ground and drinking the morning dew. They pause for but a moment to caress my back then fly passed me with effortless speed. I smile and slow to a walk. I am no match for the sun. Anyway, winning was never the point.

Life isn’t always perfect. We get out of bed each day and stuff happens. We get our feelings hurt, we trip over loose objects and bang our shins, we lose jobs, we lose friends. I believe however that happiness is a choice. We can decide to be happy no matter what. We can teach ourselves to allow life’s trials to make us stronger rather than angrier. We can literally train our minds to be at peace with the world no matter how hard things get.

I named this painting Life is Good because I truly believe that it is. It’s not easy, it’s not always fun, it’s not always what we had planned, but it is good.