Jolie Guillebeau


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Day 63

April 18th, 2010

Sunday Series: 9

I miss the sea. As a little girl, I lived near the sea. And more recently I lived on the sea– on a ship. The sea is kind of a touchstone for me. I can’t help but take deep breaths when I’m looking out at the horizon. I find perspective, insight, solace, peace…

A couple of weeks ago, I went to the Oregon Coast with friends. I took my watercolors, and while they hiked, I watched the water and painted and thought.

There’s something about the sea that grants a bigger picture, which is exactly what my dear friend Mary describes perfectly in this poem.

(You might want to click through to see more detail.)

Breakage

I go down to the edge of the sea.
How everything shines in the morning light!
The cusp of the whelk,
the broken cupboard of the clam,
the opened, blue mussels,
moon snails, pale pink and barnacle scarred—
and nothing at all whole or shut, but tattered, split,
dropped by the gulls onto the gray rocks and all the moisture gone.
It’s like a schoolhouse
of little words,
thousands of words.
First you figure out what each one means by itself,
the jingle, the periwinkle, the scallop
full of moonlight.
Then you begin, slowly, to read the whole story.

– Mary Oliver

6×8 Watercolor on Cotton Fiber Paper on bamboo board. $63

Special rules apply to today’s painting. Everyone wins! On Sundays only, instead of one buyer, I’ll paint a version of this for everyone that requests one, because I think if the quote speaks to you then you should have it.

Each painting will be an original and slightly different from the others I send out, but based on the painting you see above. The only rule is that in order to paint one just for you, I must receive your email by 8pm Pacific time today.

NEW!! Your painting will arrive ready to hang, because I’ll mount it on carbonized bamboo using archival adhesive. Here’s an example.

There will be a nice little keyhole like this, so all you have to do it find a nail and hang it right on your wall! No framing required! Yay!

Want it? Email me here.

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 18th, 2010 at 8:24 am and is filed under musings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

One Response to “Day 63”

  1. Summer Sunshine Series: 1 « Jolie Guillebeau: Paintings & Musings Says:
    June 7th, 2010 at 8:56 am

    [...] planning to go back to the Rhododenron Gardens, and to the Waterfront, and maybe over to the coast, if I have a [...]

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