Day 26. Courage.

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“Courage” 6×6, oil on canvas, $125

Henri Matisse said creativity takes courage. I’m feeling the truth of that more now than ever.  We have to be willing to make bad art, play the wrong notes, stumble through the dance before we get to the good stuff. And even then, the good stuff comes and goes, changes and grows.

Being willing to do something poorly is a prerequisite for art. It is also profoundly brave.

These are my gentle reminders today as I’ve struggled at the easel to come up with something worth posting. Today’s painting is from about a month ago when I was trying out a concept– painting the same image twice but flipping it horizontally the second time– looking at it from the opposite direction. This painting is the flip of my day 1 painting. I also zoomed in a bit and played with edges more. What new observations did I have? What could I learn? 

I don’t have answers for you. I do know that seeing something from another perspective, however imperfectly, is good for the soul. So often we assume the absolute worst about one another. 

It is good Friday, and I’m watching the birds outside, praying I can learn how to better love my neighbor– those who don’t look or think or vote or pray like me. 

Looking closely at someone and seeing a shared humanity– I think that takes courage too.

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