"I promise to be a safe harbor in all storms..."
--from our wedding vows
"Solace" oil on canvas, 16x20''
I finished this painting two days ago. It was something I had been playing with, off and on, for several months. I always keep a canvas like this, on the side, for pure pleasure. It balances out all of the hard work I am doing to seriously learn my craft. With this pleasure-canvas, I indulge my desires to paint sentimentally, whatever I want, with as many colors as I want, and, obviously, as many flowers as I want. As you can see, I often have a lot of flowers that I need to "get out of my system."
So did Chagall, my artist-crush throughout my twenties.
Bouquet près de la fenêtre by Chagall
Among other things, the theme of my new painting is the "solace of marriage." It so happens that I had lost my wedding ring for the past two months. I felt bummed about it, and was nearly driven to actually cleaning the house in order to find it. Then, on Sunday, it "turned up" in my five-year-old son's magic-trick box. He claims he was using it to do a magic trick. He certainly made it disappear! Finding the ring motivated me to finish the painting.
Abracadabra! Found you!
Finding my wedding ring also reminded me, naturally, of my wedding, over eleven years ago. I would like to end this blog post with an excerpt from the wedding vows that Ian and I wrote together.
Our Vows
I give you my promise
That from this day forward you shall not walk alone.
May my heart be your shelter,
And my arms be your home.
I will rejoice with you in happy times,
And kiss away your tears when you are sad.
I promise to remain by your side
In sickness and in health,
For better and for worse,
Through stability and change,
For all our lives.