30 Paintings in 30 Days - The Halfway Point

"Let Me Call You Sweetheart" - mixed media on cradled wood, 12" x 12".  Ready to hang.  Available at Artfinder.

​[Scene: Pit of Despair]
Count Rugen: Beautiful, isn't it? Took me half a lifetime to invent it. I'm sure you've discovered my deep and abiding interest in pain. At present, I'm writing the definitive work on the subject, so I want you to be totally honest with me on how The Machine makes you feel. This being our first try, I'll use the lowest setting.

[Rugen moves a lever from zero to one. Water starts flowing, powering the machine. Wesley writhes in pain.]

As you know, the concept of the suction pump is centuries old. Well, really that's all this is except that instead of sucking water, I'm sucking life. I've just sucked one year of your life away. I might one day go as high as five, but I really don't know what that would do to you, so let's just start with what we have. What did this do to you? Tell me. And remember, this is for posterity, so be honest. How do you feel?
             from The Princess Bride

It's the day after Valentine's Day and Westley is in the Pit of Despair.

And so are the rest of us here in South Florida, where a mass shooting at a school just took place in our own backyards.  The very school where I was scheduled to judge a high school art competition.  The very place where friends sent their children to learn each day.

There aren't words to sooth or heal or fix what's happened.  There is only a joining of hands, of hearts, of community.  Let  us call each other sweetheart for this moment.  Let us reach out and hold whoever is near, and send love to those who are far away.  Let our prayers, our words and our outrage cause a mighty wind of change.