21x28 | Oil on Panel

Week 40

I looked at her in wonder. Was she taking a rest from her hot work as she filled her water pail from the side of town? Was she perpetually in this hunched over state from pain of the years? Praying maybe, or wiping a runaway bead of sweat from her weathered nose? In this small woman, there is enormous strength. She is of those who hold up this world. 

I love the simplicity of this piece; the composition is full of peace and loving curiosity. Achieving this complex simplicity was another story! It is a deep struggle for me to see from up close was is to be seen from farther away. I fight so hard for the minuscule to reach perfection and when I step back it has so little contrast that it is easily forgotten. When our strokes are bold and sometimes messy up close, stepping back they transform into the most compelling flourishes. 

It reminds me of a conversation Laert and I have about that the downfall of humanity is often in our shortsightedness. The greater ability one has for seeing and functioning in a grand picture, the greater accomplishments and deeper life that one will achieve. As I work the folds of her apron, I wonder how can I release myself from the shortsightedness whose puppet master is fear? When I doubt myself I fall into the arms of my entrapment and Fears' binds grow. Practice is the word that comes to mind. I see La Donna, beautiful, hunching in her small ecosphere, and think- one foot ahead of the other. I suppose seeing the big picture and seeing very small steps, go hand in hand.