Miss Beautiful Wonderful

Miss Beautiful Wonderful. Oilbar on canvas. 30 X 40. 2007.

Well, that certainly took longer than I'd expected. Foolish me, I thought at first that animals would be less work than people. With all that fur? I know, funny, right? What on earth made me so presumptuous? Maybe it's this lovely head-butting/nuzzling type thing that Zaha is doing to my arm right now - it inspires confidence in the best way. Poor darling, I had a bad day and she hasn't had nearly enough snuggle time as a result. So this is how I finished my summer. Having put this up on the wall, I feel justified and satisfied with the work I did, which is a pleasant and new feeling.

Those of you who read one of my all-time favorite blogs (and daily dose of cheer) will recognize this image, and will know how the events of this summer changed my feelings about it. I had this long personal thing written out, but somehow it felt thoughtless, like I was making this all about me. Suffice to say, the reactions I get to Miss Beautiful Wonderful are surprising, if only because they are exactly what my reaction was when this shot was first posted on Posie. In some respects, I feel like I failed to capture my sadness in painting this, but in other ways, I feel that to impose my sadness on this would have been a crime. So I like that it has a life and meaning of its own - because I won't always look at this and feel sad, and so I wouldn't want it to be sad forever - and I like that it conveys its own unique life independent of my tumultuous emotions at the other end of the oilbar.

This was painted entirely to Sarah McLachlan's I Will Remember You for the obvious overtones of goodbyes, but also for the gentle reminder that all things must grow, change, leave - and though partings are painful, we ought not to weep forever for what is lost, but eventually to recall with joy the times we passed together.