Thought for The Day - Puzzle Pieces

Sleeping Beauty (in progress) - 8 x 11 pencils

After the Dance (in progress) 18 x 24 charcoal

The subject is a recurring 'theme' in my life, from my earliest experience with jigsaw puzzles, I have loved the very complexity of them. Putting them together, finding the pieces that fit perfectly together and the hours of looking for those pieces to fit perfectly. I certainly owe it to myself to invest in a 1000 piece puzzle or more, and do it soon!

Now mind you, every moment spent with a puzzle isn't pleasure. There are times when I want to toss the whole thing in the trash! The times where you are sure a piece fits, you place it down, only to find after trying to fit another to it's complex corners, there's the tiniest gap! And you begin again, trying to find the right piece! Or the times you sit turning and twisting pieces, and after what seems to be a long time, not one piece is put in place.

I've wanted to be an artist all my life, since I saw my mom casually drawing cubes and flowers in a pot. I learned how to do the same types of drawings pretty quickly and move to "race cars" - this little boy's fascination with power and going fast! Then I moved to drawing people, one of the most complex 'designs' to tackle. Faces, arms, the intricate twist of muscles, bones and flesh and expressions are pieces I'm constantly studying and working on! The ride on public transportation or a walk at lunch is an opportunity to study these pieces and see how they fit together.

And my life is the same; my individual pieces, with my wife, children, extended family, church family, 'work family,' and on and on and on...putting it together; new parts introduced all the time. There are times it's beyond frustrating! I want to walk away from this puzzle and disappear to a place where the pieces are few and far between! But this is the complexity of my life and 'putting us together' is my excellent work.