There are times in an artist's life where giving back means more than any monetary price a painting could garner. I am not talking about a donation, although those can be impactful, I am talking about a choice to gift a piece of original artwork simply for the sake of having a love fest for the day....which is exactly what happened.
My world has been spinning in such great directions lately and that makes me deeply thankful. I was taught, and choose to life my life putting that thanks into action. As I woke the other day, I felt a nudge to show my gratitude in some way and as I did, I began to paint...and ponder...and pray. While the brushstrokes danced across the page I realized I wasn't trying to find the perfect idea, it was being created as part of the process...right in front of me, and I knew I was meant to gift it.
The lines swirled, the paint was fluid, and I clearly saw the image of two figures, one large, one small. Now, if you know me, you know I have this thing about love. It is the force of why I paint, what I paint, and who I paint for. When I tap into this, I tap into the belief that it will change us, one person at a time, one act at a time. This painting resonated that...To Love Even One....
As the painting came close to fruition, I gave a lot of thought to how to gift it. What I landed on, and am beyond grateful I did, was to ask in my FB stream for folks to simply comment on my post how they would creatively love at least one person in their path in a 24 hour time frame. The words began to flow from folks sharing their heart, their hopes, their choices to send light into the world. I could not have asked for a more powerful response.
Here are a few:
whisper kind words - Lanie
I do believe so. So often in this world, there is a sense that we are just taking up space and taking up too much of it, at that. We try to make ourselves small - we slump, we hold our magnificence in and when someone positively acknowledges our existence, it can be life-changing. Just that one "little" act of kindness. - Paulissa
I always hug like I mean it....a big solid squeeze:) - Felicia
My world has been spinning in such great directions lately and that makes me deeply thankful. I was taught, and choose to life my life putting that thanks into action. As I woke the other day, I felt a nudge to show my gratitude in some way and as I did, I began to paint...and ponder...and pray. While the brushstrokes danced across the page I realized I wasn't trying to find the perfect idea, it was being created as part of the process...right in front of me, and I knew I was meant to gift it.
The lines swirled, the paint was fluid, and I clearly saw the image of two figures, one large, one small. Now, if you know me, you know I have this thing about love. It is the force of why I paint, what I paint, and who I paint for. When I tap into this, I tap into the belief that it will change us, one person at a time, one act at a time. This painting resonated that...To Love Even One....
As the painting came close to fruition, I gave a lot of thought to how to gift it. What I landed on, and am beyond grateful I did, was to ask in my FB stream for folks to simply comment on my post how they would creatively love at least one person in their path in a 24 hour time frame. The words began to flow from folks sharing their heart, their hopes, their choices to send light into the world. I could not have asked for a more powerful response.
Here are a few:
whisper kind words - Lanie
I do believe so. So often in this world, there is a sense that we are just taking up space and taking up too much of it, at that. We try to make ourselves small - we slump, we hold our magnificence in and when someone positively acknowledges our existence, it can be life-changing. Just that one "little" act of kindness. - Paulissa
I always hug like I mean it....a big solid squeeze:) - Felicia
I'm a oncology nurse. Finding the courage and taking a moment to ask a patient in pain if they would like me to pray is my way of loving those in my path even if it's only for a 12 hour shift. I've only been turned down once. - Jane
The time came to pick a winner so I used the random number generator and chose #43. Lisa Tynes won!
When I looked over the list of almost 50 friends who shared their hearts with me I decided that I wouldn't leave them empty handed. I have been painting like mad the past few months working toward a goal to land a few galleries out of my geographical area. After 11 years, it is time, I have grown artistically and I am excited about the doors opening in my art career. Because of this, there are many pieces I have that I painted several years ago, prints I have held onto, sketches etc. They are markers of my journey, practices, baby steps filled with hope and love.
I am going to be gifting some of these over the next few months...and those who posted with me, they will be gifted first, as my way of saying thank you, keep up the loving.
(If you were in on the original post, message me your address please at ardithgoodwin@gmail.com)
Artists are powerful forces in this world. We can choose to use our gifts for many different reasons. I choose love, not only to be my anchor, but to let all other traits such as creativity, hope, courage etc. come from that.
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