The Far Illusive Dream - and Mystic!

The Far Illusive Dream

oil on canvas, 10x10

sold

I stood on the bank of the Lieutenant River in Old Lyme, CT, and painted, celebrating this day, this summer, this life. 

The sun was hot, the shadows cool, the river shiny and rich. Thin clouds skimmed the August-blue sky, and the trees bent and blew in the mid-afternoon wind. On the other bank, kids and parents fished. Two kayaks slipped through the water, heading upstream. I could hear laughter, occasionally, from people having a late lunch at a restaurant a few steps away. 

It is so easy to get sucked into the day by day. So easy to focus on the shows, on the sales or lack thereof, on the applications and jury fees and whether I got in or not. It is so easy to be transported by this - the familiar, the known - and to forget about the leap I'm taking and the amazing success I am having. 

Just before that leap, I worked for Patch.com, a network of online news and information sites. It was a good job, but too much of a good job. I could not do Patch and paint, and so, with my husband's urging and support, I quit Patch and jumped.  

As I paint, and show, and paint some more, as I find increasing success and continuing inspiration, it becomes easier and easier to forget the terror, the constant thrum of fear, the nearly paralyzing terror I was feeling just about a year ago. 

So please, remember me when someone tells you that you can't possibly be successful at something that, in your heart, you know you can do and do well. My success so far has not been easy, or steady or grand. But it has been thrilling, and fulfilling, and rich with new people, new friendships, new experiences. 

I named today's painting for a poem that captures some of my feelings. It's by John Townsend Trowbridge, and is from "Twoscore and Ten," which is a verrry long poem that you can read by clicking here. Otherwise, here's an excerpt: 

Riches I never sought and have not found

 And Fame has passed me with averted eye 

In creeks and bays my quiet voyage is bound 

While the great world without goes surging by 

No withering envy of another's lot 

Nor nightmare of contention plagues my rest 

For me alike what is and what is not 

Both what I have and what I lack are best 

A flower more sacred than far seen success 

Perfumes my solitary path

 I find Sweet compensation in my humbleness 

And reap the harvest of a tranquil mind 

 I keep some portion of my early gleam;

  Brokenly bright, like moonbeams on a river,

It lights my life, a far illusive dream,

  Moves as I move, and leads me on forever.

My painting in the landscape

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OK, all that poetical stuff aside, the Mystic Outdoor Art Festival takes place This Weekend in Mystic, CT. I will be at the corner of Willow and Main - with this painting, and other new pieces, as well as some that I have shown before. 

Please come! And please tell your friends about the show and about my paintings. Your purchases and your friends' purchases are helping me make this a success - as is your ongoing spiritual and moral support! 

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Dog of the Day! 

This goofy puppy was at the SoNo Festival this weekend. What a clumsy love he was.