Enjoy Each Blessed Moment and make Happy Memories

Greetings from Florida.

Join me to the tune of “Sleigh Bells Ring.”

Seagulls sing, are you list’nin’?
At the beach, surf is glist’nin’,
A beautiful sight, a sunset tonight,
Walkin’ in a winter wonderland.

Stored away are the snow skis,
Here we stay in our short sleeves,
You sing a new song, “This is where we belong!”
Livin’ in a winter wonderland.

In the yard, we can trim a palm tree,
Then pretend to shovel lots of snow,
You’ll say, “Do you miss it?”, I’ll say, “No ma’am,”
“I feel younger by the minute don’t you know.”

Later on we’ll conspire,
And grill some shrimp on the fire,
The plans we have made include sun and shade,
Walkin’ in a winter wonderland.
News Press, McGregor ©1993
(and thanks to my friend, Junie)

(My sister's festive house)

(Oak trees get a glimmer of Christmas in Florida) 

As we celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah and other religious and spiritual celebrations we need to be more respectful of each other’s customs and traditions. These practices are what make families strong and nations great. They are the threads that weave through society and hold people together. Our differences should not divide us, but create pattern, texture and variation.

Small people and small minds create walls. Character builds bridges. Character and empathy brought the Berlin wall down. Hatred diminishes, engulfs and finally destroys.

“I found that by forgiving them (the Nazis), I held the ultimate power and the pain stopped.” From “Finding Rebecca” by Eoin Dempsey (great book!)

Grace and forgiveness brought God’s son to earth in the form of a babe to bring salvation to mankind if they would but believe.

"Mother and Child" brush drawing in oil (My beautiful daughter Holly with her first daughter.)

Hatred nailed Jesus Christ to the cross denying His divinity but fulfilling prophecy found in Isaiah 53 and Zechariah that the Messiah would be born in a little town of Bethlehem. And “He would be called wonderful, counselor, the everlasting Father the Prince of Peace.”

Even non-believers get caught up in the spirit of the “Season of Giving.” For one blessed night commemorating the eve of His birth brotherly love is felt and experienced. Wars are often paused. Sickness is healed. The chains of hatred and sin are broken as people around the world worship His Holy name.

Palm trees wrapped in lights.

Sadly we’re in a political season of mud-slinging and division. This quote from George Orwell over 50 years ago still holds true. We’d do well to remember it.

“Political language . . . is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.” George Orwell

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy Hanukkah everybody! Have a blessed season.

Ideas that keep coming back Germinate and Grow

Do you ever get an idea in your head that you can’t let go of? I’ve given myself numerous reasons why I shouldn’t follow up:  It’s not something I would normally paint; I don’t want to promote a religion or have others think that I do; It’s a big undertaking, and I’m not sure it will work.

On and on, I reason with myself while the project sits in my mind un-executed. The idea came to me one day as I saw a small shadowy figure on my bathroom floor made from water marks and smears.

“Whirling Dervish,” I thought to myself. Then I had to look it up to be sure I had the right term. At first, I thought it was a Disney character. YouTube educated me as I found several videos of this unique and unusual religious lifestyle.

I also conjured up images of modern day Shriner's who adopted Mason and Muslim symbols in their costuming. Originating in Turkey, the “Whirling Dervish” is a sect of Islam. They are taught to love everything and participate in a physically active meditation of whirling known as Sema or Sama that brings them to a state of ecstasy.

My purpose as an artist is not to judge, but to observe. I was intrigued artistically not only by the challenge of trying to render this scene on canvas, but by the colors I envisioned in my mind. Combining these elements with the Shriner's, I could see various shades of yellow in the background, moving to subdued red orange; using Arabic lettering and other elements imprinted in black on the paint.

What intrigued me the most was the red fez of the Shriner's; the same style as the black or red hats of the Sema. I couldn’t get the red, yellow and white images whirling on a yellow canvas out of my head. The scimitars the Shriner's use also appeared in my first quick sketch (8.5x11 paper is much smaller than actual canvas). Ideas are born in the most unusual ways and if we try to bottle them up, they have a way of bubbling back to the surface.

Curiosity and imagination are compelling tools that often give birth to unique and unusual ideas. Some ideas grow and flourish like a fountain that constantly gurgles and lives. Other ideas never get past a second or third review. They fall by the wayside because there’s no substance for development.

Don’t put a lid on good ideas. If they come back again and again, they are probably “keepers.”