unfolding

 watercolor

on cold-pressed Kilimanjaro paper

“Live the life that unfolds before you- 

love goodness more than you fear evil.”

― Jonathan Rogers, The Bark of the Bog Owl

the posture of grace

 

watercolor

on cold-pressed Kilimanjaro paper

You must forgive in order to understand. 

Until you forgive, 

you defend yourself against the possibility of understanding...

 If you forgive... 

you may indeed still not understand, 

but you will be ready to understand, 

and that is the posture of grace.

-Marilynne Robinson, Home

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

 

…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

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