6 x 6 in. 

My spirit is beginning to return, {as you may know with all my recent chatting it up on twitter yesterday} and with it my creativity is also making an appearance again. I present to you the first painting of 2010.

If you ever wonder why my paintings are mostly happy, it is because I paint when I’m mostly happy. An entire month has passed since I picked up my paint brushes, which I’m realizing is probably the longest I’ve gone without painting since I began this blog and the process of daily painting.

There comes a time when sadness has to lift at least a little, so you can start living again. The experiences of this past week have been profound, not to mention all the devastation in Haiti, which I am just now able to wrap my emotions around.  I am seeing and appreciating my life in a way that I have only hoped for, for many years and I’m waiting to see if it is temporary, or the kind of shift that will remain in tact in the days and months to come. 

What I most want to say today is thank you. How do I even try to express what all of your emails, comments, tweets, facebook messages and phone calls have meant to Sean and I over the last week? If you ever wonder if one more message makes a difference to someone in a time of sadness or joy, it does. Your words and thoughts matter. Immensely. They always do.  One night last week, probably the hardest one of all, I sat and read each of your comments out loud to Sean. We felt so much less alone in our grief, realizing just how many of you have been exactly where we are. Thank you for your willingness to share your own stories so graciously with us.

Ok then, it’s time. Time to return to life and creativity over here.

sending much love to each and every one of you on this Monday.

{click here to buy original} {also available as a print over at the shop}