When things go splat

I'm hoping to find some time in the studio today, but unfortunately a variety of other concerns are currently taking up much of my time.  I am having to be a bit of a hard-ass -- not my favorite role -- and I would MUCH rather be painting!

But -- before all that stuff hit the fan yesterday I did have an opportunity to try out a new technique. The bad news is that it does seem to require being done on a flat surface (meaning I have to lean over it to do the work, never a happy position for my back) -- and of course this particular effort doesn't offer much in the way of composition -- but, that said, I was delighted to have finally figured out how to achieve a more natural splash effect.

I'm not sure if I'll add to it or just paint over it, but for now I'm calling it Splat! -- which is how I've been feeling for the last 24 hours or so, so it seems appropriate. And, looking at it, with all those little spikes of color coming out of it, it does sort of resemble, if only faintly, the images we now see everywhere of the corona virus -- which has landed in all of our lives with a bit of a splat. 

Or maybe it's a fireball -- we did have a meteor burn out here recently, causing what was essentially a sonic boom; all the neighbors were frantically reporting frightened animals and shaking walls. Another sort of splat -- although at least it burnt out before hitting the earth!

Which is kind of where I'm sitting these days, that Pollyanna place, "Well, at least we're all still well! Well, at least we have a roof over our heads! Well, at least we have enough toilet paper!" I mean, with so much tragedy unfolding around us it's hard to feel we can justify whining about the somewhat lesser inconveniences of life.

But the truth is, they do take their toll. I confess I lost a lot of sleep last night and woke up pretty cranky this morning. I am grateful I still have all the pre-recorded meditations my daughter has sent over the last three weeks: I played one and immediately felt better -- and then two of the situations I was dealing with appeared to resolve, at least somewhat. Was it my attitude that changed, or just a timing bug? All I know is, sometimes we need a little boost to help us keep the faith, and that's okay.