Thinking of
Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh's story of beauty and the ultimate beauty of finding God, I love how Anthony Blanche tells Charles that he is "that very rare thing... an
artist." How Anthony complements Charles in this respect, makes it sound so beautiful and charming. But, as artists know, there's the eccentricities: the obsessive frustration while painting, the feeling of madness, even, when a painting isn't quite as it's needed to be. Yet, there's that deep feeling of contentment when a piece is finished. Even more beautiful, is the discovery that years
after a painting is completed, and an artist revisits their work, they see something new. Revisiting my painting, "Cloudy Night," this is the case. It now makes me think of St. Paul's Romans 5:
". . . We also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us."
I had the honor of sharing "Cloudy Night" at an art show and speaking about its symbolism. Doing so was revealing scars, yet very cathartic. That's the thing about sharing art: it's perfectly okay to be emotional. People don't judge you, they
want to hear your story. This is what art is.
"Cloudy Night" is a winter piece. It's surrealism. It's also a landscape. But it also conveys a lot of emotion: confusion, sadness, heartbreak, depression, pain, scars. But deep within the clouds is the slight yellow, the hidden happiness coming through... and that is the silver lining. Winter doesn't last forever. Snow will melt, beauty will flower again... and our sufferings bring us closer to Christ.
Cloudy Night, painted by me. Watercolor and Acrylic.
