The lighter side of doom

​The Lighter Side of Doom" - acrylic on cradled birch wood, 12" x 24" x 2".  Ready to hang.  Available here and at Artfinder.

Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to...follow the muse.  The muse who wanted to play with shape-based abstracts and was inspired by the soft colors of Geoffrey Johnson paintings and also hoped to portray tension and evoke a gut response.  And somehow managed to infuse a bit of whimsy into something seemingly doom-laden and heavy.  Kind of like a cartoon abstract, if that is even a category.

But lordy my golly I smile at this piece even time I walk past it, and have already begun sketching its sister (or brother or distant aunt twice removed).  The muse is running amok and I am loathe to tame her.

As life would have it, I came across this article about a new book by Anne Lamott just as this piece was finished.  The book, Almost Everything - Notes on Hope​ grabbed my attention, along with this opening line from the article and her prelude:  "In general, it doesn’t feel like the light is making a lot of progress."

And that is kind of how the world feels this morning after a horrific shooting in a Pittsburgh synagog and bombs delivered through the mail last week.  Yet there is a glimmer...in the voices raised to comfort families of the fallen, in those speaking out against bigotry, hatred and violence.  There is a glimmer of light in people reaching out to each other.

Lamott says: "...we see that our beauty is being destroyed, crushed by greed and cruel stupidity. And we also see love and tender hearts carry the day. Fear, against all odds, leads to community, to bravery and right action, and these give us hope."

To love and tender hearts, dear reader. They are our hope and our heroes - the glimmer in the dark. On this Monday, let's look toward the light and bring it home.