I wanted to paint a place, a place that was still, a place that
was beautiful and full of colour. A place with space for
the imagination to run free, a place that is absent of
the confines of any kind of judgment, and of
critical and limiting thoughts.
A place that I could visit when the world seemed
colourless, arduous, baffling and complex to the point
of appearing insurmountable.
I stared at the white canvas on the easel waiting for the ''muse''
to stir my imagination. Nothing. I closed my eyes.
(I had discovered that sometimes it was easier to ''see''
when I closed my eyes.)
Suddenly, a gush of wind brought a familiar aroma of
dry heat, the ocean, and Mediterranean pine trees to
my attention and before I knew it, image after image
flashed before my (closed) eyes.
I opened my eyes, ... the canvas was no longer white.
I saw a cornflower blue sky, a white chalked
''maison'', terra verte green pine trees in the distance,
a field with a mixture of yellow ochre, gold ochre and
different hues of sienna interspersed with blotches
of olive green.
The ''muse'' had arrived. I grabbed a bunch of different
sized brushes, a palette, and then started to cover it with
globs of colours that I had ''seen'' with my ''minds'' eye.
As if injected with an adrenaline shot, I ''attacked'' the
canvas. I stepped into my ''zone'', a place where time does
not exist, only pure experience, and started to paint.
In the zone, there is no awareness of doing,
there is only doing. Until, ...one stops.
And has a look.
Something was missing.
Of what, I wasn't sure.
Standing in front of the painting, I closed my eyes.
Suddenly I saw it.
What was missing was vermilion red.
I filled a small spray bottle with vermilion red paint
and then walked up to the painting.
Standing there, I was unsure of what my next move was.
''Nothing worthwhile was ever
achieved without an element of risk'' suddenly popped
into my head.
As if in a dream, I sprayed a red line at the bottom
of the painting, then proceeded to paint all the sides
of the canvas with the red as well.
My heart was pounding. Had I destroyed the painting?
I could hear people saying: ''But, why did you paint that
red line at the bottom?''
Why? Because I wanted to paint a place,
a place that was still, a place that
was beautiful and full of colour. A place with space for
the imagination to run free, a place that is absent of
the confines of any kind of judgment, and of
critical and limiting thoughts.
A place that I could visit when the world seemed
colourless, arduous, baffling and complex to the point
of appearing insurmountable.
And red, red is a colour that for me represents passion, desire,
love, hope and strength.
''Red is the ultimate cure for sadness.'' (Bill Blass)
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