For whatever reason, call it magnetism or energy flow--I tend to have interesting experiences with my environment when out painting. Sometimes it's animals, other times it is people. The pandemic rages on, and it's been over a year. Things are starting to feel a little better, but the world around us has definitely changed and will never be the same. Bestie said it and knew it back in 2020 before things really kicked off.
While Tuesdays are not usually a day off for me, I managed to get the day off and paint at Edward's Greenhouse with the Plein Air crew. The greenhouse was opened up and the size of the space grew five times bigger than what I had seen in the winter months. It's even more magical opened up and full of plants and people. Spring was upon us, it was a busy time for the greenhouse. There was so much space between painters I was looking around for quite some time. I settled on a vertical-flowing flower/trellis set up so I could use my Fluid 6x12 hot pressed watercolor paper. My Sakura Koi travel paints and aquabrushes got to work right away. With the greenhouse's ability to dissipate the light, shadows were sort of hard to find/focus on. However, it was just nice to be there painting on a Tuesday.
Two of the other painters were talking to one another, and it turns out that they both recently lost their spouse. In one of those cases, it was a husband having lost his wife suddenly....he held her in his arms as she died. He told me about how he had his own business in California doing contractor work (HVAC?) but that he felt like he finally had time with her in Idaho as retirees. Tears welled up for us both and I let him talk all about what he needed to. He described what an incredible woman his wife was, how caring and engaged she was as a mother, and that she was the ultimate supporter of him and his daughters. He described how lost he was in the world without her, but painting he could do. Painting he had a reason to get out of bed. My heart ached as he opened up about his feelings. It can be easier for folks to open up with people whom they have loose ties to, I suppose. Many of the plein air painters are retirees and it seems that if nothing else, they have each other and their paintings to bond over. I'm so glad I found them.
Comentarios