Painting

P is for painting.

Painting has become a bit of a running theme around here lately. In May, my artist friend Katherine gave me this huge canvas that's been sitting in the corner, in all its vast, blank whiteness trying to scare the crap outta me. It's working.

I've managed to take what I'm going to call some significant baby steps toward taming that beast. I have purchased not only some paint, but a splendid array of paint brushes as well. Who knows, one day I may approach that canvas armed with my tidy new brushes and make a hot mess. I might even produce something I'd be willing to call art!

I think I have a long way to go before I could produce a painting even half as spectacular as the one I recently commissioned from another artist friend of mine named Chris Clark. That stunner was delivered last Sunday to our surprise and delight. It's a likeness of one of my favorite spiritual places, Lake Shrine in Pacific Palisades. In the foreground there are two white swans and three lotus flowers with light dancing off them in a precious glow. In the background is the Windmill Chapel where my daughter was christened. I've dreamed of a painting like this for so many years and now, I have an original! I think of it as a gift from us, to us, representing the gorgeous beginning of our new life together.

I can't forget to mention the largest painting venture of late being the exterior of our home. We recently had all kinds of wood repairs made due to termite damage. From there we hired professionals to finish and paint the entire exterior of the house. I wish I could properly describe the color we finally selected after painting several two by two foot swatches of varied colors all over the side of the house to try them on. The winner, after much deliberation, was a color called Smoky Mountain. It seems gray in some lights, but in others it seems like a gray tinged with a little bit of dark, smoky merlot wine. You can't call it purple, but you wonder if it has some in it. It's PERFECT against the bright white of all the trim. Our house was in great need of a facelift and it feels good to drive up and be proud of what we've been able to accomplish together in such a short time.

And there you have it!