February was a bleak month.  I created “A Little Hope” to remind myself that sometimes, that’s all that’s needed. 

There was this point, as we learned more and more about the possible implications of this ongoing pandemic where the world seemed to stop. We all sat still and held our collective breath. In February I felt like I needed to rethink my life-long goals: Could I ever make money as an artist? Would I ever be able to visit France? There was a feeling like the world as we knew it would be forever changed and my place in it and my possibilities had changed as well.

Determination

Hope and Fear cannot occupy the same space. Invite one to stay.

Maya Angelou

Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.

Desmond Tutu

Hope is that thing inside us that insists, despite all evidence to the contrary that something better awaits us if we have the courage to reach for it, and work for it and fight for it.

Barack Obama

I could have drawn this little bird in graphite – but, there was something about the idea – I wanted the cup to be red; the color of determination and passion as well as danger. So, for the first time in a long time I created a colored piece. Working in watercolors – a medium I’m not entirely confident with – this piece brought me one step closer to my artistic goals.

Fifty Shades of Gray

Over the last 13 years I have focused mainly on building my skills with graphite – using back and white and every shade of gray in between. Periodically, I will dip my toe into the realm of color: colored pencil, watercolor, acrylic, oil, ink, encaustic… but would retreat back into my gray-scale world; not feeling entirely satisfied with the results. However, this simple piece, it’s simple message held the negative thoughts in abeyance and I was able to re-imagine myself as an artist with the skill required to manage color. 

I will never abandon the striking black and white world of graphite, but now, just 6 months from that time, I am primarily working on color. 

Each piece I envision is now in striking color. I find I am playing with color; gaining an understanding of hues that I could never hope to understand from any book. Unintentionally, I am associating an overall color to a work.

Mind’s Eye – I feel is purple

Day Dreams – various blues

Live Music – reds

The Point – shades of green

A Lincoln Sparrow – a dance between golds and purple

Redemption (not as yet completed) – pink

February was a bleak month. Although the pandemic is still ongoing here in the US, this Hope has carried me through – to a new place; a new version of my dreams for myself.

There are two quotes I read this morning that seem very pertinent:

No one can tell what goes on in between the person you were and the person you became. No one can chart that blue and lonely section of hell. There are no maps of the change. You just come out the other side or you don’t.

Anonymous

I hope that you live a life you’re proud of. If you find that you are not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again.

F. Scott Fitzgerald