Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Blossom



I believe in karma, although not in any linear way.

Karma is like a blossom emerging from winter's dark limb. It was a long time coming. During the winter, magic was occurring deep in the Earth, the place where the roots of the plant beings become entangled with our own lives. Plans for that bloom were set in motion generations ago. A flower was dreamed by someone's great-great-great-great-grandmother on a moonless winter night. The dream was handed down. Every generation dreamed.

And then, in my garden, on a morning in spring, a blossom comes forth. It is there because in the past someone cared enough to dream.

In July of 2006 a woman stood outside the gallery window smoking a cigarette, gazing intently at my "Deep Sleeper."

I stuck my head out the door to say hi. "This is just beautiful," she said. "Let me finish this terrible habit, and then I'll come in for a closer look."

The woman was from New Orleans. Lauren was in the throes of renovating her post-Katrina home. She purchased Deep Sleeper, telling me, "This will give me something nice to look at while we rebuild." A friend of hers, Amy, came in the next day. Amy bought another of my paintings, one called GridLuck. Amy had not only lost her home but her entire neighborhood. And yet both Lauren and Amy said they were "the lucky ones." "We can rebuild," they said.

Since that time, Lauren has thrilled me by purchasing two more paintings. One of those purchases came at a time when the gallery was frightfully slow. That painting sale was just what my spirits needed. Perfect timing.

And now, I receive a letter from Lauren. It seems that in the course of several years of going on medical missions in Antigua, Guatemala, she has befriended a family who has undertaken to raise enough money to build a school in the village of Ciudad Vieja. In Ciudad Vieja 70% of the population cannot read or write. Lauren is holding a silent auction in New Orleans for the Vieja School project. She has asked me to contribute a painting.

The roots of the dream in Antigua have become entangled with her own dreams for the future. And now with mine.

What I've come up with is Blossom. Here's hoping a bidder will see it as I do--a harbinger of hope, a belief that our dreams touch each other. An awareness that Someone in the heart of winter took the time to dream for us.

97 comments:

P M Prescott said...

Beautiful painting and wonderful story. Hope the auction goes well.

Carol said...

Thanks for the wonderful story.

I really like your painting - the colors and the delicacy of the flower against the rough "wall".

Your art gives you an avenue to share yourself with others all over the world. Very nice...

Preity Angel... said...

San,

What a beautiful painting..I feel like making one..but i will have to find time for that as i work too hard..

I like the story as well..

Have a good long weekend..

Angel

Sparkling Red said...

I love love love that painting, and the sentiments behind it.

I often think about that: how all human endeavours start with just a thought. I love that a woman I've never met in person was inspired to make candy-cane brownies because of a comment I left on her blog. The internet is so ethereal, and then there is a concrete result: delicious brownies! The downside: I didn't get to taste them.

Velvet Ginger said...

Absolutely lovely story....especially that you 2 have stayed in touch. Your creativity and sweetness spreads & grows San!

andrea said...

Great story. Have you got an image of Deep Sleeper to show us? As for me, I believe in karma, too, feeling that its existence is a kind of psychological healing device as much as anything spiritual.

San said...

P M, thanks for your well-wishing, bro.

david mcmahon said...

San, Lauren's cause really touched me. I would be very privileged to donate a photograph (or photographs) for the cause of Ciudad Vieja.

If that is acceptable, the quickest way would be for me to email the photo/s to you, rather than mailing them. That way you can print as many copies as you want, to whatever size you want .....

Thank you for your thoughtful comment on my I Is For Imax post.

We always seem to see the same attributes in art or artistic depiction.
With regard to Ciudad Vieja, either email me or drop me a comment on my blog .....

San said...

Carol, I liked the contrast too. Here's hoping a bidder will!

Yes, I feel blessed to be working with art.

San said...

Hey Angel. Thank you for your kind words. I love it when my art inspires others to make art.

San said...

Red, I love your brownies story. You're right--the internet is ethereal but can produce really concrete results. Lives touch.

San said...

Rubye Jean, you're the sweet one.

San said...

Andrea, your view of karma as a psychological healing device is very interesting.

There's an image of Deep Sleeper in my previous post, the one about meditation. Thanks for asking.

San said...

That is most generous, David. I will email you.

With regard to the Imax photo, you're welcome. I too enjoy it when someone sees something the way I do.

Lee said...

Beautiful and delicate while at the same time bold. San, I see an abstract of Dawn who dreams of healing. Her face looks in more than one direction. She has red hair but also other colors. Her mouth faces us but is also in profile. Her eyes are of different colors and see different things from each because dreams change and have different purposes. Some of her aspects are a little rough because of the need to struggle and survive life, but some are as delicate as any hoped for dream which is nurtured secretly like one would a delicate blossom. Beautiful work!

I know someone will bid really high to own it!

Hugs,
Lee

San said...

And what a beautiful interpretation, Lee. Intricate and deeply imagined. I am moved by your words.

Thank you for looking so closely, friend.

HUG.

Andrea and Kim said...

San, this is such a beautiful, heartwarming story! I feel so honored to know you in that this is what you are doing.

This painting is absolutely beautiful. I love it so very much. It reminds me a lot of a painting my friend, Fiona Long (a link to her blog is on my blog), has just had showing in London to support the Prince's Trust. Similar textures only...she is interested in the urban environment. I am going now to tell her she needs to come here to see this!

San, you always amaze me each time I come here. You give so much to so many people all over the world. It is an honor, indeed.

Thank You So Very Much!

lime said...

the line "our dreams touch each other" says it all. beautiful!

whimsical brainpan said...

What a wonderful opportunity for you to help!

Given how lovely the painting is I think it will bring in a good bid for the cause.

fiona long said...

What a beautiful, poetic view f the world! So many people suffer from seasonal affective disorder. If only they could see winter in the same way that you do!

I love your painting! It's stunningly beautiful!

San said...

Kim, I see that Fiona has already come over. Thank you for sending her. I can't wait to see what she's up to over at her place.

Well, your comment has made me feel all warm and glowy. Thank YOU so very much.

San said...

Lime, thank you.

San said...

Whimsical N, I hope you are right.

Thanks for the vote of support.

San said...

Fiona, I love what you have to say about SAD and the relevance of this post.

I'm also eager to see your art.

Cath said...

San-
That is lovely and your painting is inspiring, as is the tale behind it. I do hope it all goes well for Lauren and those she visits and that the painting goes to a good home at a fair price that will help all.

Thanks for stopping by mine.

San said...

Cath, thanks much for your positive support and well-wishing for the auction.

Celebration of Life said...

Afternoon San! What a beautiful painting and a beautiful story! Yes, Karma is alive and well and always working!

Your painting reminds me that spring is tomorrow and I have hope that it will soon bud in my part of the country! I bought myself a bunch of daffodils today just so I can watch spring blossom and bloom in my corner of the world.

I have a new post; it's informative but not neccessarily interesting. LOL

Have a GREAT Spring tomorrow!
Jo

San said...

Jo, Happy Spring to you too!

Daffodils--I adore them. Now I'm picturing them under the big Wyoming sky. Or in a corner of your kitchen.

I'm glad you liked the painting and the story. Thank you.

jsd said...

This is stunning – it stuns me with the roughness, the unexpected blending of color moving my eyes from bottom left to top right to…wait what’s this? How did this get here? Yet it fits. Life is full of rough patches and then everything seems to fall into place and there is hope and love and life.

Oceans and land and blood and out of all this life.

San said...

Wow, JS, that is a stunning comment. I love what you say about the rough patches in life, how it all falls into place. Somehow.

"Oceans and land and blood and out of all this life." Quotable. And so I did. :-)

fiona long said...

Thank you so much for taking a look at my blog San! I'm glad you liked my painting.

Good luck with the auction! What a wonderful cause!

San said...

My pleasure, Fiona.

SandyCarlson said...

This is a wonderful work of art and a beautiful post. I like your description of karma.

Thanks for recommending the book!

San said...

Sandy, thank you.

I hope you enjoy the book.

Mima said...

San it is a very beautiful painting, and is going to such a worthy cause. I travelled through Guatemala many years ago and visited Antigua. I was really touched by the place as it has such a serenity even amongst such poverty. Guatamala City where we had come on from was huge, bustling and rough around the edges, and Antigua was such a calm place with some lovely people. Good on you for helping.

I love your description of spring starting and life bursting forth that has been mulled about through the winter. My garden has started flowering, something that I have really been looking forward to, I had completely forgotten about all that had been happening invisibly all around. Thanks for the reminder.

murat11 said...

As I sit here at the keyboard, above the monitor in front of me is "Blossom's" cousin, an untitled painting of Tina's that is also extravagantly crustaceous, torn apart, sundered, layered, raw, beautiful.

I don't know for sure if the blossom is a lotus, but if so, I was reminded of this (I suppose it applies to all of us vegetables):

"In order for the lotus to grow strong and to produce a beautiful flower it is necessary that its roots ground themselves in manure. The darker the excrement - the better the lotus will grow, the more astonishing will be its flower. This is why the lotus is considered the most sacred of plants in the east. It is only through the action of the emergence of the flower from the black shit can the importance of this metaphor be understood."

Likewise, the black madonnas, the radiant dark, and the canvased/tuscan angels of convergence.

Chuck fka: Meanie said...

Happee Spwing San! Dum dee me bwog! Wuv, Chuck

B.T.Bear (esq.) said...

Ahhh yu write bewtifully, like werds comininto blossom. I hope yor payntin duzz well at the orkshun. Yor werds mayde mummy smile. SHe hassent smiled much today. Or yestaday. Sheez a bit low. But she sed yor werds wer very liltin an soothin an mayde her smile.

Nose hugs!

Unknown said...

This is a wonderful tale of beauty, San. My blessings to the people of Ciudad Vieja—and, of course, to you.

Shrinky said...

Ah, such an uplifting tale. I'm a firm believer in karma, and of the positive chain that links each affirming action forward, triggering many more.. you and your beautiful painting are part of that exciting, wonderful chain which will undoubtably bring hope and empowerment to many for several generatons to come.

Maggie May said...

Congratulations, San, a lovely post!

Celebration of Life said...

We are having a spring snowstorm this morning. My daffodils haven't opened yet; I don't blame them!

Unknown said...

San, it is a beautiful painting and it's beauty is even more revealed by the story you tell us here. I'm sure, this will contribute to a better world.
Andrea

Anonymous said...

San,
What a gorgeous painting. Rich in texture and you picked up the colors of the print to carry into the paint. You should raise some high bids with this piece.

Jennifer S said...

The painting is beautiful, and your story is lovely. Who knows how far that painting will go in its life? Maybe it will carry good karma with it?

I found you through David's blog.

virtual nexus said...

Lovely colour and textural effect on this work and encouraging story...!

San said...

Mima, I know exactly what you're talking about with regard to the serenity factor in the midst of poverty. I've met several people who have very little in the way of material wealth but who seem to be in love with life. They're the kind who will go out of their way to help someone in need too. Their wealth is the more important kind.

San said...

Paschal, I read your many-layered crustaceous comment last evening before we all--the kids are home for spring break--sat down to watch Il Postino, a beautiful film fraught with thick, cracked-opened surfaces.
Your word "Tuscan" kept echoing in my mind.

Yes, that is a lotus. I don't believe I'd read about the lush excremental origins of that delicate blossom. How perfect! Exquisite beauty being seeded in merde. Yes, the metaphor does apply to "all of us vegetables."

I would enjoy seeing Tina's painting. Peace.

San said...

I'll be over, Chuck.

xoxoxo

San said...

Bob, you and your mummy both have a way with words. "Liltin and soothin." Now I'm the one that's smiling.

Hugs to you and Mummy.

San said...

Blessings to you, Nick. I hope Alex is staying about from the nose hose.

San said...

Very well put, Shrinky. As always.

Thank you so much.

San said...

Thanks, Maggie May!

San said...

Jo, we're actually having some springlike temps. Nice moderate sweater weather. Hallelujah!

But we'll probably get more snow before spring catches for good.

San said...

Andrea, how kind of you. Thank you.

San said...

Thank you, Chewy. The inclusion of the lotus actually was an afterthought. I'd put down all the colors, layer after layer, scratched and dug at them. THEN I discovered the lotus. The color and the forms begged to be included. One of those aha moments we enjoy so much.

:-)

San said...

Thank you, Jennifer, for coming over.

What a beautiful idea--the painting as a carrier of good karma. Love it!

San said...

Julie, thank you for the encouragement.

Anonymous said...

It is apparent that you paint with words as well as a brush -- and that you mix your colors on the pallet of your heart. Beautiful painting. Beautiful words. Moving story. I add my prayers of success for the helpers and those being helped.

Here via McMahon epost.

San said...

Oh, Quilly, such words you have painted in your comment!

I am most grateful for your well-wishing.

LZ Blogger said...

San ~ I like many of the contemporary pieces you've shown on your blog including this one. ~ Thx! ~ jb///

fiona long said...

I've been thinking more about this concept of a painting having good Karma and I whole heartedly agree with it, literally. I once heard a white witch talking about love potions. It doesn't have to be all eye of newt etc. She said that any home cooked meal can exude love if you put love into it. This got me thinking, is that why dishes like risotto that you stir and put love into taste so good? I think so! Anyway, I try to put some love into every painting that I do. Some of them cause me frustration so a little less obvious love may go into them but maybe they get more attention! I've had some emotional reactions to my work and cried whilst looking at others paintings. I'm sure that art can hold a resonance and that good karma can go on and on.

I can see the love that you've put into your painting. I'd so like to see it in real life so that I could feel it too! Again, good luck with the auction. What a great cause. Scientists say that energy never disappears it just changes hands. I hope the good karma from your painting keeps going and going too!

Carolyn said...

Lovely post, beautifully written. Thanks for sharing your wonderful art.

David sent me. Congrats!

San said...

Thank you, JB, for taking the time to look at the art on my blog!

San said...

Fiona, you are so right with regard to there being a "secret ingredient" in any created thing that makes it work. Love? Energy? Good karma? Are they one and the same?

Fun stuff to ponder...

San said...

Carolyn, thanks much.

What a lovely profile picture!

Meg Wolff said...

San,
Glad you write a blog. Will you write a novel? Because... wow, your writing is as beautiful as your paintings! My favorite paragraph is:

I stuck my head out the door to say hi. "This is just beautiful," she said. "Let me finish this terrible habit," and then I'll come in for a closer look.

ox

~Babs said...

Terrific post San.
Love this mixed media work,,the color gradation,,,,,texture.
Much good luck with the auction!

San said...

Meg, that's quite a compliment coming from the published author that you are. Thank you!

xo

San said...

Babs, thanks for looking closely at the painting.

And for the well-wishing for the auction!

aims said...

Gosh - I am at a loss for words here. Everything you've said and your painting mean so much and more....see - I am at a loss for words...how unusual...

David was right picking you as the winner for today's post...

John-Michael said...

As Blossoms roots spread amongst the network of Life's nurturing love and care ... I am certain that future blooms (measured and recognized in lives enhanced) will beautify this Garden that we all share. You have done a good and proper thing, San, in sharing the energy of this story and the loveliness of this image.

DILLY said...

MWEAH Dilly think pikcher be pwitty an San be very clever an luvly.

¬"

Heather said...

All my best wishes, hopes and prayers go to you for the auction. Great work from a wonderful person. Love to you.

San said...

Aims, thanks much for visiting. I look forward to checking out your blog.

San said...

What a lovely comment, John-Michael.

Thanks much.

San said...

Oh, Dilly. You're the lovely one.

MWEAH back!

San said...

Oh, Dilly. You're the lovely one.

MWEAH back!

San said...

Much love to you, Heather. And you and your beautiful family are in my prayers as well.

Ellie Creek Ellis said...

Simply beautiful, San...both the painting and the story. I wished I could bid.

myonlyphoto said...

Hi San, just visited to wish you Happy Easter. I will visit later to read, sounds like very interesting post. Thanks for your patience, Anna :)

The Moody Minstrel said...

Amazing how someone standing outside your gallery smoking a cigarette could suddenly turn into a harbinger of so much goodness!

Worlds collide, worlds converge.

Thanks for another great story!

San said...

Ms. Creek, thank you for saying that.

Hope your Easter was sweet.

San said...

Anna, we had a lovely family Easter. I hope yours was nice too.

San said...

Moody, you are so right. We look back on those small moments when our lives were about to shift in a new direction. And often the actual events in those moments seem so unassuming.

B.T.Bear (esq.) said...

Happy Easter San!

San said...

Thank you, Bob. Easter was lovely.

jafabrit said...

What a wonderful post and story and fabulous to hear how your art has inspired and given such joy :)

San said...

Thank you, Corrine. You must be back from your trip--I hope it was great!

Sandi McBride said...

What a beautiful beautiful painting...puts me in mind of the Phoenix...I believe in Karma too, San...as in "what goes around comes around..." Yes, karma is strong within my soul.
hugs
Sandi

Velvet Ginger said...

Just stopped to say Hi!
You must be a busy gal! I stopped to see if you had a new painting or story!
Take Care!

San said...

Hugs, Sandi. The painting puts you in the mind of the Phoenix. How cool is that?

San said...

Rubye Jean, thanks for visiting. Yeah, I've been a bit busy.

Preity Angel... said...

San,

just stopped by to say hi to you.

Hope you are doing fine.

Angel

San said...

Thanks, Angel.

indicaspecies said...

Blossom is wonderful and so is your narration. All the best and I hope many more such blossoms come forth.

San said...

Celine,

Thank you for such wishes at Springtime!