I just deleted the original draft I wrote about this painting. This piece was created in Feb 2021, under some incredibly difficult circumstances (pandemic, virtual schooling, restricted everything, re-diagnosis of cancer, weekly infusions, mind-bending nerve pain) and revisiting all that darkness was not sitting well with me.
So, here goes round 2…
The idea for this had been on the back burner of my imagination for longer than I care to admit but when I heard about the Orange Reclaimed Art Exhibit Celebrating Hope, Optimism, and Determination organized by Good Crowd Events, it jumped to the forefront – and exploded onto my watercolor paper! I was a woman possessed to complete it in time for the submission deadline.
I finished it. Submitted it. And it was accepted.
Digging down and focusing on creating this slice of sunshine gave me Hope and helped me to focus on Optimism. It took tremendous Determination to manage the pain, fatigue and craziness, in order to carve out time for it each day. Creating this was the highlight of those days, and I almost didn’t want to finish it because the process was pure joy.
Putting this all down in black and white makes me think it may be time to paint more Orange!
