Into the breach

I did paint yesterday; I just didn't write about it. So I'll write two blogs today to make up for it...

I started with the idea that I wanted to paint vertically, and somehow combine the spillage effect with the drip effect and some soft pastels to get a water scene. Though it started out looking fairly promising, the final results were incredibly bland, so I dropped it on the floor, waited for it to dry, and then spilled some color on it.

I loved the resulting spillage, but the color was too strong and consistent and was overwhelming the background. Without thinking or waiting for it to dry, I threw on some white, which of course then blended instead of covering over and softening, but in the end I found I liked the effect I was getting.

... which I find reassuring at some level, though I guess this is a theme I should be listening to throughout this period: mistakes, and things we can't control, directions we hadn't intended to go -- they all have the potential to bring us to something exciting and new; we just have to trust.

But this morning, having learned that a close friend with numerous medical issues has fallen victim to the Boeing layoffs, I can't help but worry: how will they survive? How will they cover their mortgage, and their medical bills? Is this a furlough or a severance?

These are not easy times, and these are not easy questions -- and lots of people are having to ask them right now. Can I really trust that this will somehow work out for the best? And yet -- what choice do I have? What choice do any of us have? We just have to keep putting one foot in front of the other; once more into the breach. And so -- because this painting also reminds me of a whale breaching, I call it Into the Breach.