Courage, Dear Heart

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Courage, Dear Heart

I have a large painting on the easel in my studio, and have been slowly working on it while I have been engaged in other projects. The meaning is so significant, but difficult to put into words. As of yet, the canvas doesn't begin to 'say' what I want it to say. 

Oddly enough, though, I think this little work does say at least part of it. An unsatisfying way to put the thought into words looks like this: when all seems confusing and lost, my Hope and confidence are in the same place as when all seems to be flowing smoothly. My eyes turn toward the Creator, Who (incredibly) loves me. 

NLA
12" x 12"
Painted with artist quality heavy-body acrylic paint on 1.5” deep gallery wrapped canvas
Edges painted black

Reading works by C.S. Lewis has made such a deep impact on my thinking. Often it surprises me to recognize how much of an impact! As I worked on framing my studio musings for this post, I found that several quotes that I have saved from Lewis' writings fit what I wanted to say. 

"It was when I was happiest that I longed most... The sweetest thing in all my life has been the longing... to find the place where all the beauty came from."
C.S. Lewis, Till We Have Faces

"Remember He is the artist and you are only the picture. You can't see it. So quietly submit to be painted---i.e., keep fulfilling all the obvious duties of your station (you really know quite well enough what they are!), asking forgiveness for each failure and then leaving it alone. You are in the right way. Walk---don't keep on looking at it."
C.S. Lewis, The Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis, Volume 3: Narnia, Cambridge, and Joy, 1950 - 1963


"Here the whole world (stars, water, air,
And field, and forest, as they were
Reflected in a single mind)
Like cast off clothes was left behind
In ashes, yet with hopes that she,
Re-born from holy poverty,
In lenten lands, hereafter may
Resume them on her Easter Day."
(Epitaph for Joy Davidman)
C.S. Lewis

"If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world."
C.S. Lewis Mere Christianity

"Courage, dear heart."
C.S. Lewis, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (Chronicles of Narnia, #3)

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