Day 7. Leaving the Nest

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“Leaving the Nest” 4×4, oil on canvas [creativ_button url=”https://denisehopkinsfineart.com/product/goldfinch-profile-4×4-oil-on-canvas/” icon=”” label=”Buy Now” colour=”red” colour_custom=”” size=”medium” edge=”straight” target=”_self”]

On day 6, I was thinking about control– namely giving up all illusions of it in the name of sanity. Sometimes a brushstroke meant to do one thing does another. Embracing uncertainty is a hard but important lesson.

Today I’m trying to understand control in the less artistic, messier parts of my life. The parts I can’t just paint over, redo, or try again. This time last year I wrote about the first day of school– that paradoxical excitement and agony of sending my little one off to the care of strangers to a place where I cannot watch his every move, tend to his every need.

My son and I have discovered Planet Earth over the summer– I always root for the antelope to outrun the lion, even the beetle to escape the lizard, but what gets me the most is the birds who care for their young and then send them off into what is clearly dangerous terrain. I root for those baby birds too.

Today’s painting of this American goldfinch was inspired by a beautiful image by photographer Keith Freeburn who you can follow on instagram @keithfreeburn.

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