This past weekend, I went on an art retreat. I went two years ago when they last had it, and it was a turning point for me. I felt so honored in my creativity, felt it and me as a creative person being given a little haven in which to be nourished and affirmed in the sacredness of this gift. I have had a much deeper appreciation and conviction of this being a place I can incarnate who God is ever since then. The magnitude of the gift was given to me then.
So this weekend I was back in that space, just breathing the atmosphere of all that.
I didn’t go in with a plan of what I wanted to paint, but I thought I might like to spend the time painting things that nourished my awareness of the sacredness of creativity. This is one of the little paintings I ended up doing. It’s a copy of my grandma’s painting. My grandma is one of my role models. She had such a contagious joy, love for Jesus and her family, and enthusiasm for life, and I don’t think I’ll ever not smile when I think of her laugh. And she was an artist. Her artist spirit exuded from everything in her life. It kind of came on her breath. She painted, but she dressed and decorated and cooked and generally existed with such unassuming artistic flair, and I loved that. So I decided to paint one of her paintings and I stuck her down in the corner painting it. She reminds me of what I can become.
