Thought for The Day - Prep Work, Changing Weather

...Suddenly the skies were clear, the winds died down and calmer days prevailed.

Yesterday, I scraped my palette for fifty-millionth time this year and then applied the same colors I have, also for the same number of times. I begin applying paint to "Linen, A Storm is Coming" and as I did so, I asked myself why was I doing it? Certainly, for a person like me, the work is never quite complete. I can't begin to tell you how many times I've sat in front of this canvas, or glanced at it over my shoulder as I worked on something else and thought "I could use a shot of silvery blue or orange here." Or thought "the mood in the sky needs to spread from one end to the next," but negated that idea with the sense of a transition over the length of it.

At some point, I did what I haven't in months; I took the painting off the easel. It kind of surprised me because it was just a day before I thought there was no need to rush to complete it. A large 30" x 40" canvas has been sitting in a corner, waiting for this moment and without a second thought, I reached for it, blew the cobwebs off it and placed it on the easel. There was a moment of anxiety, looking at the white canvas. Should I turn it so the 40" is vertical or horizontal? Am I working on the blue Orisha Yemaya or "Calming winds" (working title in both instances)?

After about an hour, the canvas was tinted red, my base coat and color. The storm was passed and the canvas lay length-wise, on the easel. The calm has returned...

I told a friend the other day that sometimes, God answers our prayers and yet we aren't happy because we were looking for his response to appear a certain way or with more flair... Sometimes drama and madness simply stop and we are so surprised at the transition, we aren't sure what to think...