to be whole...

 

acrylic

on streched canvas

“...until we allow not only elephants, 

but all living creatures 

their place in the sun, 

we can never be whole ourselves.”

― Lawrence Anthony, 

The Elephant Whisperer: My Life with the Herd in the African Wild

...the scales balance...

watercolor 

on cold pressed Kilimanjaro paper

“The Weighing”

by Jane Hirshfield

The heart's reasons

seen clearly,

even the hardest

will carry

its whip-marks and sadness

and must be forgiven.

As the drought-starved

eland forgives

the drought-starved lion

who finally takes her,

enters willingly then

the life she cannot refuse,

and is lion, is fed,

and does not remember the other.

So few grains of happiness

measured against all the dark

and still the scales balance.

The world asks of us

only the strength we have and we give it.

Then it asks more, and we give it.

the silence that surrounds

acrylic on canvas

I had learned what I knew, 

the bare outline of the event, 

without asking questions,

 both fearing the pain that I knew surrounded the story 

and honoring the silence that surrounded the pain.

-Wendell Berry, That distant Land

...waiting...

acrylic on canvas

This waiting is messy, but one thing is clear: 

This waiting is not passive. 

This waiting invites us to hold the painful present 

and calibrate it with future hope. 

The waiting actively affirms the importance of life’s sorrows as 

the Man of Sorrows guides us through.

-Mike Ahn

...and to be loved anyhow...

acrylic on canvas

“To be fully seen by somebody, then, and be loved anyhow - 

this is a human offering that can border on miraculous.” 

― Elizabeth Gilbert 
Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage

...see...

acrylic on canvas

In a dark time,

The eye begins to see.

- Theodore Roethke

wrung...and possibly broken

acrylic on canvas

 To love at all is to be vulnerable. 

Love anything and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken.

 If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give it to no one, not even an animal. 

Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; 

avoid all entanglements. 

Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. 

But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. 

It will not be broken;

 it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. 

To love is to be vulnerable.

C.S.Lewis

connection

watercolor

Connection [is] the energy that exists between people

when they feel seen, heard, and valued;

when they can give and receive without judgement,

and when they derive sustenance and strength from the relationship.

-Brené Brown

the silent scream

fabric and gel medium on layered wood panel

“Trauma is personal. 

It does not disappear if it is not validated.

When it is ignored or invalidated 

the silent screams continue internally 

heard only by the one held captive.” 

― Danielle Bernock 

Emerging With Wings: A True Story of Lies, Pain, And The LOVE that Heals

because sometimes you must...

Acrylic on canvas

When you're drowning, 

you don't say

 'I would be incredibly pleased if someone would have the foresight 

to notice me drowning and come and help me,' 

you just scream.

-John Lennon

and that’s that…

watercolor  

We can’t all, and some of us don’t. 

That’s all there is to it.

 -Eeyore

"Winnie-the-Pooh

the comfort of a friend

watercolor

You and I can share the silence 

 Finding comfort together 

 The way old friends do

— Abba

"The Way Old Friends Do" (1980)

we all have it

watercolor

We all have pain 

 We all have sorrow 

 But if we are wise 

 We know that there's always tomorrow

— Bill Withers

"Lean on Me”  

listen close...

watercolor

Listen to the MUSTN’TS, child

Listen to the DON’TS

Listen to the Shouldn'ts

The IMPOSSIBLES, the WONT’S

Listen to the NEVER HAVES

then listen close to me —

Anything can happen, child,

ANYTHING can be.

 – Shell Silerstein 
“Listen to the Mustn'ts”
from "Where the Sidewalk Ends"

each friend shapes our world...

watercolor

Each friend represents a world in us,

a world possibly not born until they arrive.

-Anaïs Nin

 

what is 'normal' anyway?

watercolor, pen and ink

If you always try to be normal, 

You will never know how amazing you can be.

-Maya Angelo

aged pleasure...

watercolor

 One does not get better

but different and older

and that

is always a pleasure.

-Gertrude Stein

be...patient...

watercolor

Patience is also a form of action.

-Augusta Rodin

questions matter...

watercolor

It is better to know some of the questions 

than to have all of the answers.

James Thurber

 

it makes a difference...

watercolor, pen and ink

The difference between 

misery and happiness 

depends on what we do 

with our attention.

-Sharon Salzburg

dare...

gouache and watercolor on black cotton paper

Dare

 to be naïve.

- Buckminster Fuller

 

just be...

torn paper collage on index card

No need to hurry.

No need to sparkle.

No need to be anybody but oneself.

- Virginia Woolf

We relate… therefore we are

torn paper collage, pen and ink on index card

“I suppose that since most of our hurts come through relationships 

so will our healing, 

and I know that grace rarely makes sense 

for those looking in from the outside.” 

― William Paul Young, The Shack

 

destination unknown…

torn paper collage on index card

All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.

- Martin Buber

 

don’t make up your mind yet...

Watercolor

 The time to make up your mind about people, 

is never.

~Philip Barry

misunderstood...

watercolor, pen and ink

Perhaps one did not want to be loved

so much as to be understood.

- George Orwell

 

simplify...

watercolor

It is not a daily increase,

but a daily decrease.

Hack away at the 

inessentials.

-Bruce Lee

free to do right...

watercolor

Freedom consists not in doing what we like,

But in having the right to do what we ought.

- Pope John Paul II

Broken places

Watercolor

 The world breaks everyone, and afterward,

some are strong at the broken places

—Ernest Hemingway 

sharing at PaintPartyFriday 

Dark defines Light

Watercolor

The dark does not destroy the light; 
it defines it. 

It's our fear of the dark that casts our joy 

into the shadows.

— Brené Brown (The Gifts of Imperfection)

Sharing at PaintPartyFriday

 

…but some are more equal…

Somehow it seemed as though the farm had grown richer 

without making the animals themselves any richer 

– except, of course, for the pigs and the dogs. 

Watercolor

ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL 

BUT SOME ANIMALS 

ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS.

-George Orwell, Animal Farm

 

...for always and always

(study in DS shadow violet)

“When the Man waked up he said, ‘What is Wild Dog doing here?’
And the Woman said, 

‘His name is not Wild Dog any more,
but the First Friend,
because 

he will be our friend 

for always 

and always 

and always.'”
—Rudyard Kipling 

say whaaaaat???

Daniel Smith Watercolor on Fabriano paper

The only thing that should surprise us 

is that there are still some things that can surprise us.

~Francois de La Rochefoucauld

Sharing at PaintPartyFriday

it’s not about the fish...

Daniel Smith Watercolor on Fabriano paper

"Many men go fishing all of their lives 

without knowing that it is not fish they are after."  

-Henry David Thoreau

you cannot ever leave completely... nor do you want to...

watercolor

'You cannot leave Africa, Africa said. 

It is always with you, there inside your head. 

Our rivers run in currents in the swirl of your thumbprints; 

our drumbeats counting out your pulse; 

our coastline the silhouette of your soul.' 

-Bridget Dore

from the poem Africa Smiled 

 

watch it...

watercolor on moleskin paper

Watch your thoughts, they become words.                         
Watch your words, they become actions.                          
 Watch your actions, they become habits.                          
 Watch your habits, they become your character.             
Watch your character, it becomes your destiny.
Frank Outlaw