Grass Cave and a Five Year Old

Grass Cave

4x6

acrylic on 200 lb paper

This painting was in my first ever art show that was in a local coffee shop in the spring of 2004. I had ten paintings in the show, two were not for sale and of the eight that were for sale, I sold 6. It was an incredibly exciting opening day and it really fueled the fire to get back painting again (my painting had been very sporadic since spring 2002 when I had Sammy)... except that I was pregnant with Tommy and due sometime within the six weeks the show was running. With a 22 month old in tow and a baby on the way I knew the fire within me would have to wait a bit longer... little did I know just how long that would be.... like three years!

You see my precious little Smiley Tom was not, I repeat, not a sleeper until he turned, well, 5! (This past spring). And I don't mean he woke up once a night, I mean he woke up repeatedly through the night. If I got more than two hours in a row it was a good night. When Tommy was about 2 1/2 and talking really well for his age, I finally figured out that he was having very vivid dreams. Possibly at times night terrors. He sometimes talked in his sleep and I believe he has sleepwalked. I remember one morning after a particularly rough night I asked Tommy if he knew why he woke up at night and he said he had a bad dream. I asked if he remembered what it was about and he said "Yes, mommy, there were bad guys in my room". I told him that must have been very scary and did he know who the bad guys were? He replied, "Yes mommy, you know, like Cookie Monster and Grover"! I'm not sure why the blue monsters from Sesame Street seemed to haunt his dreams, but it was a recurring theme.

Anyway, that kind of lack of sleep really messes with you and I was in a pretty bad state for quite awhile. I certainly wasn't in a good head space to be creative and I was way too exhausted to even take a night art class or go to the studio to paint. Finally in the summer of 2007, when Tommy was three, my husband practically insisted I go to the Emma Lake campus to paint and get a break. It was a turning point for me. I met my wonderful painting friend Debbie which has been such a gift and I also cried a lot... a lot with her as I worked through all kinds of emotions. But I got some painting done and that part of me as an individual started to appear again. Slowly it has been building up again and I feel like there is a new chapter opening up for me and I am fired up!

I dismantled my art show with the Curator on Friday evening and I am so pumped about the way it all went. My personal goal was to have half the paintings sell and that was achieved and the other goal was that a stranger would purchase a painting... and that happened! Yay! I now have the guest book and here is a sampling of the incredibly wonderful words people wrote:

"Splendid and strangely comforting!" -Al

"I absolutely love your work... the vivid colours and connections to nature. What a wonderful job!" -Bonnie

"I feel like I have discovered a great new artist." -Doug

"Very captivating & great use of colour." -Rita

"I have been looking for art like this for 3 or more years. Wow! I love the colour, use of nature...beautiful." -Karen

"This work is amazing and has inspired me to do some experimenting with my art using similar colours. Thanks for the inspiration!" -Caitie

"Beautiful vibrant colours... A cheery and pleasant show. Thank you, and keep on painting!" -Bessie

"Amazing job! These beautiful paintings really made my day. A nice ray of sunshine when one is in the middle of exams. Keep up the great work, you are really talented" - (no name left)

Clearly these comments make me very happy! I am also going to go through my previous posts and edit to show the pieces that sold.

Before I sign off for the night I just have to say a few more things about my little Tommy. He is larger than life. I always say that Sammy is an old soul and Tommy is a brand new soul! He was born with a big personality squeezed into a little body and he has tried to run the show since day one. However you will not find a more adorable 5 year old character as hard as you may try. He really, really cares about people. I just recently told him some exciting news about his best little friend and it was news that could have potentially made Tom sad. Instead he was genuinely happy for his friend and he just said "Awesome!" and then when he saw his friend at school he ran up to him and said "Hey Buddy, I'm really proud of you!" My heart burst with pride. And a little while ago I mentioned that the kids have said some precious things since the traumatic accident we had been through. Here are a couple of things Tommy has said that show his compassion at such a young age:

"Mommy, I'm glad your glasses didn't break because then glass might have gone in your eyes" and, with tears, "Mommy, why did they take me and Sammy out of the car first? Ladies should go first."

He is a little dream come true.