Beholding Beauty

My free time...of which there is little...is often spent blogging. I love to write about the crazy thoughts in my head. But, I have met another love. A gift from my parents has given me a rival time spender. Painting. I've always been fascinated with color. I could stand in front of the Benjamin Moore color display for hours just picking out colors I like, and matching them up with other colors...and I'm not even redecorating. Sometimes I slip them on my pocket to take home. Why? Because if I feel a little "blue", I just pull out my color cards for a look and somehow they cheer me up. I dream of a room I could splash with these colors. Now, I don't need a house to decorate, I have canvas! Paint! Brushes, and every color under the sun to mix, spread and form into something beautiful...or not so beautiful, but fun nonetheless.

The trick is to find a solid hour in order to play with my new friend. I have found many opportunities to do this. It's funny how when we want something bad enough we MAKE the time for it. It helps that it's January and we have been stuck inside a lot lately due to cold, stormy weather. Blessed cold, stormy weather. Today is going to be another one of those "indoor" days. I wonder what I shall do?? Laundry...dishes...cook...break up kid fights...do school...say "no" to obsessive amounts of computer game time (kids)...sit with coffee and watch the blessed snow and maybe...PAINT!

I am realizing, in my oldER age that I like to do a a lot of things. The phrase "Jack of all trades, master of none" comes to mind. My unstable, easily tired mind enjoys hopping from one activity to another. Be it painting, knitting, cooking, skiing, arranging flowers, playing guitar or piano, writing or whatever new "hobby" I take up, I am ever grateful to be able to work with my hands...which keeps my mind afloat.

God is a creator. He made us like Him in that we have the inclination to create in some way. Standing back, after fiddling with a potential masterpiece in order to make it appear "just so", and looking at something you have created, brings a natural fulfillment and joy. For some people their creations are more technical or mathematical. Creations can be more "heady"...thoughts or designs, organized and played out exactly. These geeks...I mean, left brain geniuses...are creators of a different kind. I believe I have one of these engineering Picassos in my little family. Lego, Kinnex and pencil and paper are his pallet...a marble run is his work of art. For my Dad, it's a perfectly authentic, pristinely restored antique car. His garage, filled with these art forms in the making, is his greasy, mechanical museum. At the Beaverbrook Art Museum you will find a HUGE wall canvas painted entirely in royal blue. That's it...just one color...covering the entire canvas...with spotlights on it...it took the guy several months to "create" it...worth thousands...I don't get it, but someone does.

In our homeschool, I try to take a good amount of our day encouraging the kids to be creative. Get our heads out of the books and get our hands into something. Fortunately, they never oppose this attempt. It can get quite messy sometimes, but that is part of the developmental deal. Crafty junk everywhere, cardboard skyscrapers in the living room, flour and batter strewn about the kitchen and the sound of uncontrolled drumming or off key musical notes are the stuff of budding creations. "A little of everything" is a good motto to keep in mind while teaching kids to explore this part of life. You never know what they will be good at or find a love of. I have to refrain from pushing MY loves on them, however. Having my boys knitting and making cakes all the time is not really what I foresee in their future...nor desire.

I have plenty to amuse my hands and mind at the present. Hopefully I don't discover another hobby anytime soon...I'm booked...and my family could use some clean clothes in their drawers pretty soon.