Looking back, or dreaming forward?

"Concrete Corridor" 30x30x1.5". Oil on gallery-wrapped canvas

Available through Lovetts Gallery

Looking back, or dreaming forward? Wisdom requires both perspectives. While we celebrate another new year, there is always a fair sense of recollection from our earlier lives. As time passes, we are often reminded that today, each day, is special. What we do each day makes life memorable...or not. As I move into each new year, I am reminded that each day seems to move along like water. It could resemble the movement of a swift-flowing river, a steamy summer drip, a quick hint of rain, or an ever-frozen moment of winter. Each season of life is unique...as well, each season has a color palette that starts from a rainbow. Just mix in a little black, gray, or white, and there you will have a color palette much like mine. 

Last month, as I stood in front of my easel, I realized that my oil painting palette had been stuck in the "Fall season" for nearly five years. I'm not sure why it has, but my visual senses tell me it's time for a change. Naples Yellow, Yellow Ochre, Indian Yellow, Cad Red Light, Alizarin Crimson, Ultramarine Blue, and White. That's three times the warmth of yellow over one chilly, fresh blue. I do not patronize any one brand of oil paint, and perhaps I could replace a hue along with each season. However, it is best to have at least one of each primary color (red, blue, and yellow) along with white. Imagine the subtle shift one color hue could produce when mixed with a varied amount of another hue? Surely it took a newsletter for me to figure this out...thanks to my readers! 

So, what might you change up this new year? Might you take longer naps? Perhaps we all could listen a little more and talk less. Perhaps we practice a deeper sense of understanding? What if we could physically turn our perspective upside down once in a while? Eat dessert first....or not! Take a nap. Slow down. Ask friends how they are doing. Listen to their words first before we conjure up a reply. Oh, how our dreams and perspectives could flourish!