A distinct delight that these years in Dallas have given me
is a weekly art class at Pigment School
of the Arts. Though the most of the students are primary students, a few
times a week, older students are welcomed – and I am among the oldest. Since
2006, I have enjoyed the camaraderie of painters and potters, and the tutelage
of an accomplished artist and teacher.
And I have produced . . . art.
Now, all my accomplishments are not ready for a prime time
exhibition at the Kimball, or Dallas Museums, but I placed a few of my
paintings in a recent show that Pigment Hosted. And someone liked a painting!
They wanted to buy it! It was however only on loan to the exhibition,
having been promised to Douglas, who is unfailingly supportive.
(Doesn’t that sound . . . a wee bit cheeky: It was only on loan . . .?)
The subject is a bright red cardinal nestled in snow-laden
trees in western Maryland, painted from a photograph that Dave Wolfe snapped. I
loved the photo, and felt my picture fell short of conveying the moment Dave
recorded. So, in addition to it being promised, I was uncertain of its worth. However,
I agreed to reproduce it, for a modest fee.
Because so many of the students attending classes at Pigment
are six decades younger than I am, they are transparently kind in
assessing my work in the studio.
On a few occasions, they have made especially thoughtful and positive
comments. But recently, when one young student learned I had expressed
reservations about the painting’s worth, she stopped her art own project and
wrote me a note.
I was stunned and deeply touched and remembered how powerful
a tonic a few kind words spoken from the heart can be.
Emboldened by such kindness, I started
my first commissioned painting, hopefully reproducing what first attracted someone’s
interest – alas, with instructions that I leave out the bird.
Kind words are like honey -- sweet to the
soul and healthy for the body. (Proverbs 16:24)
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