Georgia

"Georgia" - mixed media on gallery wrapped canvas, 16" x 20".  Ready to hang.  Available here and at Artfinder.

A bit of departure from abstraction today.   This portrait was just finished; it languished on my easel for nearly a month.  I wasn't sure who it was, what it signified, why I was painting it.  Until the final few layers, when she decided to become a likeness of my grandmother as a young woman.   Funny, because I hadn't been thinking of her.  But now, I am. :)

And so I think she pointed me to today's passage in Mark Nepo's The One Life We're Given : "...we're cleansed of stubbornness by the relentless tide of experience."  Well, my stubbornness hasn't been fully removed by any means, but it has been worn away to nubbins.  And Nepo promises we'll be "deeply renewed" once that stubbornness has had its butt kicked.  I wouldn't mind a deep renewal...especially if it includes a pedicure.

Georgia

And I've been thinking about stubbornness quite a bit this week, as Wonder Mike becomes more comfortable in his new shangrala and begins to display his tiny but mighty personality.  Which includes an abhorrence of walks.  Twice a day, he and I each dig our heels in on opposite ends of the leash and take 45 minutes to go half a mile.  He likes to sit and look around.  I like to walk fast.  I realized after a week of this that he probably doesn't know how wonderful walks really are (who knows if he was ever even on a leash before) and so I've begun wearing away his reluctance with pockets full of treats, the most interesting destinations and a willingness to stop and greet every single passerby and yes, even sit beside him on the sidewalk now and again.  Just this morning, he sat by the garage door where his leash hangs, waiting to go.  I wonder if he knows deep renewal and a doggy pedicure are coming his way?