Day 5. Joy
“Out of the Blue” 6×6, oil on wood panel, framed.
My morning meditation today was on Joy, her capriciousness, her constant surprise, her inability to be invoked or beckoned as though her very nature is to arrive when not expected.
In cleaning up my work space recently, I stumbled upon an unopened jar of cold wax medium I’d purchased probably seven or eight years ago. I used it in today’s painting, and to my surprise, found joy in the thick, waxy, translucent layers applied more like icing on a cake than paint to a panel. Welcome, Joy. Come whenever you see fit.
Out of the Blue
Joy comes in the morning
sometimes over stale cereal,
mismatched socks
or I forgot my…
mostly through the window
where even on this grey, rainy day
a Bluejay startles us from our breakfast
rising like a blue flame
from the cold weepy earth
where she goes we aren’t sure
that she will come again–
we are certain
Denise Hopkins
January 5, 2025
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