Merry Christmas to You!

Rufus

Oil on canvas, 12x12, commission

Christmas morning, and the house is quiet. Peter's asleep, with two dogs by his side. Sam, the big Samoyed, is sleeping by my feet and Eunice the cat is curled up in the warmth of my desk lamp.

It's not quite 6 a.m., and it is dark still. But I trust and I believe that soon, the edge of the sky will lighten and the sun will come up on another day, this Christmas Day, a day to celebrate love and peace and family and the birth of Jesus.

Hope and fear, courage and frustration, optimism and exhaustion, these have been my companions this year. I've reached highs I never imagined I'd see, and felt lost in ways I've never felt before.

In the end, this has been more than anything a year of faith - in myself, in the path I'm walking, in the guidance of a higher power, in a future that holds great change and great promise.

Thank you, all of you, for your constant support of me, of my paintings, of my toddling steps forward. Thank you for your comments, your words, your purchases, your inspiration.

Art has shown me more clearly than anything how connected we all are, and how our words, our gestures, our decisions touch the people around us.

Merry Christmas, friends! I hope that you find joy and peace today, safe in the heart of your families, and that the feelings of this day stay with you always.