2018 was the year that if anything in my personal life could go wrong…it did.
I had my first tooth pulled in January. One sister began chemotherapy in January. A month later, a second sister started chemotherapy. My best friend became gravely ill. One of my daughters faced a serious issue that took months to resolve. We experienced a summer of smoke and encroaching forest fires in the surrounding mountains where I live. I took a short trip and ended up in a hospital away from home with a kidney stone. My ex-husband had a major stroke. My sister and best friend died in December. There was more but you get the gist, right?
I painted this piece in my journal as this torrent of challenges was only starting. Already, I was feeling lost at sea. Without a paddle.
Seeing this painting, one of my daughters thought I should call it The Bell Peppers…as their clothing is the color of bell peppers.
I appreciate when my art gives me an outlet for feelings. Sometimes I’m overwrought and life is just too much for me to even consider putting brush or pen to page. Most of the time, it’s the best elixir for the despair or trauma or whatever is at hand that seems too big to handle.
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These days we feel things coming at us right and left. Top it off with a pandemic! Yet, there has always been an undercurrent of unrest with social injustices, political and corporate greed, economic inequities, media manipulation, repercussions of climate change. The list goes on. What’s been undercover is now on the surface. I’m told that this is good because now we know what we’re dealing with. Now, we can begin to address these inequities and other imperative issues.
What is your way of dealing with “TOO MUCH?”
Wake Up Princess 
Now I understand why you were away from blogging for a while…what a stressful year that was for you! Let’s have faith and hope that even with a pandemic, this year won’t be as bad as 2018 for you and your loved ones. ❤️😘
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My hope and prayer is that we have faith and hope that even with a pandemic, this year won’t be too hard for any one of us. It is a time of openings, for sure. A year like 2018 opens the heart to human suffering and loss, the common human experience. Woven within the difficult experiences and grief, is gratitude. Thanks, Louise, for your comment.
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Thank you for sharing your story (Journey!) with us. Your beautiful art and words really tap into my own emotions surrounding “life” right now. You are amazing, Christine. ❤
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Thanks, Liz. This journey, the parallel journeys we are each on. Grateful to be sharing it with you and so many others. Safe travels.
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Christine,
That was an incredibly hard year! I’m so glad you are resourceful and resilient, and make art. I remember seeing this painting, and it touches me. Each figure is expressive and conveys emotion, and the colors are gorgeous together. I am especially drawn to the facial expressions and the hats. Even though the face of the figure in yellow isn’t seen, just by the set of her body I am feeling what she might be thinking. I love this painting.
Cathy
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Thanks, Cathy. This painting was done in a journal. I don’t always use a journal for my art…but there was a period where I did. And I hope to use the art journal more often in the coming months. It’s a great place to practice. Grateful too, for art and resilience and so much more.
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