When the Canvas Falls Short
As an artist, I’ve found that some emotions are better shared through words. Love and memory can’t always be painted—they must be written.
More Than Just a Painting
The Artist
It’s incredibly vexing,
as a painter,
to try to share love.
The intangible forms.
With a brush,
on a canvas.
Feelings of memories
like those remembered,
on the tips
of fingers.
Or, the pressing of lips.
Full body pain or pleasure.
Breath, or the sun's warmth,
on your skin.
Invisible to the eye,
yet so substantial.
So impossible
to accurately capture.
The feeling of a hug
with racking sobs reverberating.
From one rib bone to another,
from yours to mine.
I still feel the kisses
Of those lost.
My Mom's lips,
pressed to my forehead,
testing for a fever.
I still feel Daddy’s warm hands,
heating my cold ones.
I still feel my big brother's toes,
Beneath mine as we danced
This is where words,
do their best work.
For, no matter how smoothly my brush glides.
Or, my palette knife adds texture.
These loving memories,
can't quite be captured.
Not as easily as the emotions,
that words inspire.
Maybe in some ways,
with color and scene.
But not as quickly
without the resonant immediacy.
Words evoke,
an instinct, universal.The Painting Full of Memories
Granddad’s Feather is a painting I sold this summer. Its bold colors caught the eye of a mother who wanted to decorate her daughter’s room. But, to me, it represents a wealth of memories.
My grandfather owned a home across the road from a farmer who owned peacocks. To this day, I can hear their distinctive ‘may-awe-ing’ calls in the distance.
Every trip to Indiana, we would come home with a new bunch of those feathers, excitedly picked up from the ground to be cherished. I decorated my room with them, adding them to a vase like flowers.
It’s wonderful that my painted feather will be in a girl’s room. But, only I, and now you, know the whole meaning behind that painting.
Yes, it’s a beautiful feather. But to me, it holds a memory of trips to Indiana, and visiting my grandfather.
I’ve shared a little more about those trips in the post below.
“I still feel my big brother's toes,
Beneath mine as we danced” ~ Awh 🥹❤️
This is absolutely lovely!