"Do not paint over this one" said my son. (The reason he said that was that I would often paint over old works when I ran out of fresh canvases, and truth be told, this image is a "paint-over".)
"Take a few steps back and have a look" he continued.
I did what he told me. Something very peculiar happened when I looked at the painting from a distance; I was able to disconnect myself from the process of what I was doing and this enabled me to view the image as if someone else had painted it. Standing on the easel, the painting that I was working on, was a portrait of my son's friend Zach, but somehow, viewing the painting at a distance, Zach had turned into "The Nazarene".
The first time I showed the painting in an exhibition was quite extraordinary and some of the responses by the viewers, memorable to say the least.
The Nazarene was the first painting on display in the exhibition, (I guess a bit like an entrance point) so for that reason, that was were I was positioned in order to welcome visitors.
(I now need to say this: I am only ever a channel and have no sense of "ownership" connected to any of the kind of creative work that I do, ....once something is finished, my part is done. My contribution is hard work, acquiring the skills needed and allowing the "channel" to remain open.)
Because of my position, I was able to to hear and see some of the reactions to the painting.
"Look mum, Jesus!" a little girl exclaimed as she pointed to the painting. If I remember right, many children who saw the painting seemed to hold the same view although some of them thought that I got the hair colour wrong; it should have been "yellow" (?). Some viewers asked me if I was religious, some asked me why I painted Jesus when nobody really knows if he ever really existed, some told me that they found the painting offensive, some asked me what on earth made me paint Jesus, was I trying to convert people? What however became obvious very quickly to me was that the painting seemed to evoke quite strong emotions in the viewers.
Near the closing time, I noticed a woman standing quietly in front of the painting. She was standing there silently for such a long time, that I decided to talk to her. I gently tapped her on the shoulder and as she turned around to face me, I noticed that tears were gently sliding down her cheeks.
Softly she asked me if I had painted the painting of Jesus. "Actually, it is not Jesus, it is Zach, a friend of my son, that I painted, but it seems as if for many people, it is a representation of how they imagine Jesus would have looked" I answered. "Please forgive my tears, but I don't seem to be able to stop them. You see, I am not religious at all, I don't even know if I believe that Jesus ever existed, but somehow the face in your painting oozes such gentleness, stillness and love, that I don't seem able to walk away. I just want to keep looking at it," she responded.
In the car on the way home, I pondered on the number of people who had offered suggestions on what should happen to the painting: you should give it to a church, it should be hanging in a church, you should donate it to a hospital, etc.etc......funny how no one made an offer to buy it......
(After all, who would want to have "Jesus" on the wall in their living room?)
Christmas is celebrated by many of us; for some of us it may entail the birth of Jesus, for some of us Christmas is merely a commercial construct, for some of us it's a few days rest, for some of us it's family time, for some of us it's a chance to eat good food, have a glass or two and spend time with friends, for some of us it's a good time to reconnect, for some of us it's a good time to take time out and reflect on our lives, for some of us it may mean nothing more than another reason to party, for some of us it may encourage us to be mindful of people less fortunate than us, for some of us it may be a highlight on our religious calendar, and so on.
As far as holidays go, Christmas is a "biggie".
For some of us, Christmas can be like a tonic for our souls, it can assist us in directing our thoughts toward the giving to others: more of our time, more acts of kindness, patience, love, compassion, support, encouragement, and the helping of hands. (And all this without us having to spend a single cent.)
My view is that we all have the potential for being givers, all it requires is open hands and an open heart . Even in times when our hands may be empty, an open heart is always full, and from that fullness of heart we can give warmth, comfort, kindness and company.
I know that for some of us, Christmas can be the time when we feel the most alone, if this happens to be you, let me just say this:
You are not alone
although
this may be how you feel.
Because you are connected...
through the air that you breathe,
the words that you speak,
the thoughts that you share,
the burdens you bear,
the warmth of the sun,
thru clouds on the run,
the cool of the breeze,
the shade of a tree.
You are connected to the earth upon which you walk,
you and all creatures,
be they big or small.
You are not alone
'cos with all there is,
or that ever will be,
you, you do belong.
MERRY CHRISTMAS
No comments:
Post a Comment