Painting a Life

I was working on a painting over the weekend. It's a landscape of a tropical island with turquoise waters, a little boat beached as if someone just landed, and palm trees. The palm trees are vexing me. I just can't seem to get them right, although I have worked them over and worked them over, changing techniques, colors, stroke patterns, all to no avail. Yes, they are looking better, but still not right. Meanwhile I'm happy as a clam with the beach and the water and the vibrant blue sky.

I got to meandering about how creating a painting is like creating a life.

First, I picture what I want to appear. Then, I start the process by asking what do I need to make this happen? Do I have the right colors on my pallet? Do I have the right brushes? Is my canvas big enough? Is my vision clear enough that I can see the finished painting? Where will I find the time to work on this?

Then, I pick a starting point and work on one area at a time, just to get some background color on the blank canvas. As the painting progresses, I find myself working primarily on one area at a time, while making slight adjustments to the rest of the paining as I go along. Right now I think the sky is fantastic, the gently rocking sea is beautiful, the multi-hued sand of the beach is stunning, but those darn palm trees leave a lot to be desired.

Each time I start working on the painting, I spend a few moments examining my previous work. I look at each area of the canvas and ask myself, what does it need? Does it need any changes in relationship to the progress I've made in other areas of the painting?

Like life, this painting has to be balanced. Like life, sometimes there is an area that needs a little more work than the others. Maybe you have your own personal palm trees. Maybe your palm trees are your personal relationships that are rocky. Maybe your palm trees are your financial situation, or the job you don't care for. Maybe your palm trees are your health that is suffering from your bad habits. We all have our palm trees. We all try to balance our lives in a constant stream of tiny adjustments of this and that. We all have areas of our life that we are just in love with, and areas that need more color, more balance, more style.

In painting I work on the whole painting at once, but focus on one area at a time. It's like juggling. I got the water just right, but the sky needed more light. I got the sky just right but the water needed more motion. I got the water just right but the beach needed more color... and those palm trees, they need a lot of work.

My painting evolves each time I work on it. Each time I look at it I see something new, something different about it. Each time I view my painting I ask myself if this is exactly what I wanted or are there areas that need more work? There are almost always areas that need more work.

Today, as you view the canvas of your life, I wish you a insightful eye to see the delicate colors of your painting. Give thanks for the areas that are really quite perfect, and be honest with your self about the areas that are not. If areas of your painting need more work, I wish you a steady hand with your brush as you make the adjustments that will turn the problem areas of your painting into the brilliant, balanced landscape you picture in your mind.