There are stories that simply worth telling. It’s not because I want to fill the earth with one more of them, but it’s because that story, perhaps, can find its sibling in one of yours.
Last January, as the year was changing and many were exchanging wishes, I decided to create an art work that I would later call: “Pax et Somnium”. “Pax et Somnium” or “Peace and Dream” became therefore a questioning about real peace and true dreams. There was an upcoming member exhibit at Charlotte Art League. So, I registered the painting.
As I started shaping “Peace and Dream”, my dad got sick. Then became sicker. And he finally died. It happened the week that drop-in was scheduled. “Peace and Dream” wasn’t finished and I had no desire to finish it. Nevertheless, two inner voices were asking me two different things: To finish or not to finish? That was the question.
I took a deep breath and decided to stick to schedule. I brought it a day before I left for the funeral. It wasn’t an easy day: It was the last day for drop-in. It was cold, wet and I arrived near closing time.
I came back from the funeral the day of the opening reception. After a trip that lasted a whole day and a whole night, I was exhausted. But I put some lipstick on. A dash of perfume. And I went. I wanted to see how Charlotte would react to my painting. I got there. I looked. I took pictures. And then I left.
For some reason, dwelled into the trials of this life, I completely forgot about that painting. It was a total surprise when two weeks later I received a phone call of congratulations: “Peace and Dream” was placed second among over 50 paintings!
This story of determination despite challenges is mine and can echoed in one of yours. Maybe many of our plans seem to go down the drain with no way for us to hold on to them. To finish or not to finish? It’s the question that we all are confronted with. The more we grow old, or young, the more we understand that finding a way to finish is the only answer for our own peace and our own dreams.
