Monday, December 30, 2019

My 'Why' for A New Year, Two Views...Dottie T. Leatherwood

New Day. New Year. New Challenges. New Life.

Do all those things give you a new life? Possibly.  Life is constantly renewing itself.  Even our life on a day to day basis changes.  Each decision that we make takes us a little farther down one road or another, leading to more changes that stemmed from that single, seemingly unimportant decision.  While we may seem the same, to others and even to ourselves, we are forever altered.  

When I decided to try and swirl a brush into oil paint and then touch it to canvas, my life was forever altered.  Even though I still looked the same, talked the same and seemed the same to those that knew me.. my life had changed.   And the pathways to be created from that change would be so much different than the ones that would have presented themselves, had I never put brush to canvas.  When I decided, a year or so later, to haul myself and my painting gear outside to try to paint what I saw in front of me, that too changed the course of my life forever. Many years later, I still reap the benefits and the challenges, the elation and the frustration of that day.  The way I see the world has changed.  New life.

In less than 3 days, the year will change.  Millions of resolutions will be swirling through the atmosphere from millions of people around the world.  Silent and whispered prayers of hope and resolution of change. Decisions to change big things, little things in the coming year and in the years to come.  Some people will feel success with their resolutions, some will feel failure.  But it really isn't about "success" or "failure".  It's about the decision.  The hope. The need to see or do things in a different way and the curiosity to see how that will change life as it used to be.  

In less than 3 days, my life will change.  I will pull out my brushes, my paint and my canvases and go outside to paint.  Not just for a couple of hours.  But all day.  Not just for the day.  But for the whole month.  A decision to change my path.   I'm making a commitment to truly "be" in the space I am in and put it down on canvas.  I don't want to just paint a beautiful view or organize what I see in front of me into a good painting.  I want something different.  I want it to change me forever.

A year ago, I moved back to my hometown. The place that has inspired me and haunted me since I left 35 years ago.  I feel this place.  It is alive to me in a way that no place has been since I left. Whether it’s the breeze blowing through the tangle of palms, moss filled oaks and wild vines, the salt water moving through the marsh, the warm heavy fog drifting across the water or that ever changing almost indescribable light that illuminates it all… it stirs my soul. I want to get outside, right smack dab in the middle of it, and try to put that on canvas.  The "feel" of it.  The "aliveness" of it.  The "love" of it. 

It is a huge challenge for me.  To be honest, I have no earthly idea how to even do it.   But I want to learn.  I want to figure it out. Technically, I know how to paint.  I'm comfortable enough outdoors putting paint to canvas to record what I see.   But I want this to be different.  I want my emotions mixed up in that paint on the canvas.  I want a month of love and inspiration and feelings on canvas.  A month of focus and single-mindedness. A month of growth.  A month of not knowing where I begin and the painting ends.  I am sure that I will fail miserably and yet I cannot wait to try.  And try. And try again.

I hope you will follow along this month as Marc and I set out to paint our life here on the Georgia coast.  We will be blogging everyday about our experiences and adventures.  I hope before the month is over, you will be able to feel my paintings as well as see them.  And I hope that they might make you feel something as well. 


Happy New Year!  Here's to New Challenges, New Growth, New Focus and New Life for us all!

1 comment:

Diane Mannion said...

You're both an inspiration! Will be following your adventure and painting along with you in thoughts and on canvas.